Strikeforce Columbus Fight Card: Would a Dan Henderson Win Hurt Credibility?

Nick CaronMar 3, 2011

Dan Henderson will get his shot at Strikeforce gold when he faces Light Heavyweight Champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante at Strikeforce: Columbus on Saturday night.

As Strikeforce makes its push to help take more of the market share from the UFC, they will be looking to promote their fighters and their weight classes as the best in the world. In order to make that happen, though, Strikeforce must begin to establish more of their fighters as top guys at their divisions like they have done with Nick Diaz and various heavyweights.

Of course, it has to start from the top and the champions in each division, such as Rafael Cavalcante.

“Feijao” has been gaining credibility since he came to Strikeforce after a successful, undefeated run in EliteXC. He made his Strikeforce debut in June 2009 at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields, but was knocked out in the second round by Mike Kyle.

Since that point though, Cavalcante has won three-straight fights in Strikeforce including his most recent victory over “King Mo,” Muhammed Lawal in August 2010 when he won his title.

Cavalcante is an absolutely vicious striker who is known for being very aggressive, often finishing fights with his fists. In fact, every win in his career has come by way of strikes.

There is no doubt that Strikeforce would like to see Cavalcante go on a run similar to the one that fellow Brazilian, Anderson Silva, has been on in the UFC. A win against Dan Henderson, like Anderson Silva accomplished, would do amazing things for Cavalcante and his credibility as one of the world’s top light heavyweights.

As the last Pride Fighting Championships Welterweight and Middleweight champion (which most closely translate to the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight weight classes in America), “Hendo” is the only fighter in MMA history to hold two titles in different weight classes in a major MMA promotion.

After starting on a two-fight losing streak in the UFC against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva, Henderson went on to win decisions over Rousimar Palhares and Rich Franklin before knocking Michael Bisping’s head off with a punch that earned him the “Knockout of the Year” award at the 2009 World MMA Awards.

Henderson then made his Strikeforce debut in Aug. 2010 when he faced Jake Shields for the Middleweight championship. Henderson dominated the first round of the fight by knocking down Shields with a punch and also taking him down but Shields would recover and win a unanimous decision to retain his title.

He moved on to fight Renato “Babalu” Sobral in his light heavyweight debut for Strikeforce and won the fight early by knockout, earning himself the title shot against Cavalcante on Saturday night. No one can deny that Henderson is one of the most legendary fighters in the history of the sport. Even as he nears what might be the end of his career, he is absolutely one of the best fighters on the planet, both at 205 pounds and 185 pounds.

At the moment, betting lines have the challenger, Henderson, as a (-200) favorite for the fight.

Certainly, Strikeforce would love to see Rafael Cavalcante get a big win against Henderson and help establish the promotion’s light heavyweight division. But would a loss be disastrous?

Given Henderson’s losses to two top UFC fighters, Shields and Silva, the concern is certainly understandable. After all, what does it say for a company when a guy loses to the top guys from one company (though Shields was in Strikeforce when he beat Henderson) and steps in to immediately win the title for another company?

But realistically, Dan Henderson is the kind of legendary fighter that goes above and beyond these normal rules. He is consistently ranked among or near the top 10 fighters in the world at his weight class and holds wins over a who’s who of MMA legends.

If Dan Henderson wins the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title in Columbus, he will not hurt the credibility of Strikeforce as a whole—he will actually help it.

Henderson is a name that UFC fans know and Strikeforce is desperately trying to pick into the UFC’s casual fanbase. He is someone that the fans can say, “Hey, I know that guy” about and get them to reminisce with their friends about the Bisping knockout.

Sure, the losses to Shields and Silva don’t help, but most people will not remember him for losing those fights. They will remember him for his work in Pride and for putting his fist through Michael Bisping’s face—the same Michael Bisping who won a very controversial fight at UFC 127 last Saturday night.

Sure, it’d be probably be better in the long-run for Strikeforce if Rafael Cavalcante wins the fight and gets what might be the biggest win of his career. A win over Henderson would push Cavalcante into legitimate top-five consideration in World Light Heavyweight rankings and could give Strikeforce another leg to stand on in their ongoing war with the UFC.

But if Henderson wins, it’s really not the end of the world. He’s an established fighter with great name recognition that Strikeforce could continue to use to main-event future cards. A win by Henderson could set up a myriad of various fights including ones against King Mo, Gegard Mousasi, or even a fight with highly-touted MMA newcomer Roger Gracie.

Any of these fights would be highly marketable and one could even argue that all three of those fighters may be better for the Strikeforce brand as they push forward than Feijao currently is.

Strikeforce is in good shape, no matter the outcome in this main event.

If we look at it more closely, the one that might actually have the most to lose regarding the main event is Dan Henderson. With a loss, Henderson will have lost four-straight title matches in the UFC and Strikeforce.