Dan Henderson: Is He the Greatest Fighter in MMA History?

So much attention as of late has been focused on Jon Jones, and rightly so. He's the "in" thing in MMA at the moment, and he might be the "in" thing for many years to come.

When all is said and done, Jones may ultimately be the greatest of all time.

Hell, he might accomplish that feat in a few more years. But he's not there yet.

So who, then, is the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts? The general consensus falls between Fedor Emelianenko or Anderson Silva, with your actual answer depending on whether you were a PRIDE fanboy or someone who started watching the sport with the advent of The Ultimate Fighter. I know that sounds like a generality, but I've found it to be true more often than not.

There's one name people tend to forget when having this discussion: Dan Henderson. I firmly believe that Henderson, not Randy Couture, is the greatest American fighter of all time.

There's no possible way to look at their respective records and come to the conclusion that Couture is the best. I like Randy, and he's a great ambassador for the sport, but his record was 19-11. That's not terrible, but it's far from the kind of ledger you need to be considered great.

And Danny Acosta of MMAJunkie.com believes that Henderson, not Silva or Emelianenko, might just be the mythical greatest of all time:

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Henderson's current resume boasts 10 wins over big-show champions: Carlos Newton, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Rafael Cavalcante, Fedor Emelianenko and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. That is victory against at least six future Hall of Famers. Comparatively, Anderson Silva, who's generally the current consensus greatest fighter ever, has wins over six champions.

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But what of Henderson's losses? 

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Of the eight opponents to walk away victorious against Henderson, only Ricardo Arona (split decision) and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (armbar) have not held notable titles. Half (Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva) are surefire Hall of Famers. 

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Henderson has never put together the kind of winning streak that Silva or Emelianenko have. He'll win four or five fights, then lose one. But let's not forget, as Acosta points out, that six of Henderson's eight losses have come against Hall of Fame-caliber fighters. And two of them—Arona and the younger Nogueira—were very good fighters with excellent records and reputations when Henderson faced them.

Is a winning streak that comes against often-subpar talent more notable than a collection of high-profile wins with a few losses to extraordinary talent? That's how we measure Silva vs. Henderson vs. Emelianenko.

One thing is for sure: If Henderson is able to beat Jon Jones, there will be no question that he's the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.