Dan Henderson Is the Hardest Hitter in MMA

Over the course of his career, Dan Henderson has been recognized as one of the hardest hitters in the entire sport of MMA.

But, it hasn't always been this way.

In fact, while Henderson began his career with an impressive 9-1 record, only one victory was by way of knockout.

However, things quickly changed when Henderson entered the Pride organization in December 2000.

"Hendo" would win 13 of his 18 bouts with the organization as an eye-opening eight wins came via knockout.

At this point in his career, Henderson was quickly racing towards the top of the knockout totem pole as his vicious striking was second to none.

But, it wasn't until July 2009 when Henderson would be considered arguably the hardest hitting middleweight in the UFC when he landed the knockout of the year against Michael Bisping at UFC 100.

After a loss to Jake Shields, Henderson would go on to knock out his next three opponents and even earning the main event slot at UFC 139 with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

In what would go down as arguably the greatest fight of the year and one of the best of all time, Henderson would be declared victorious via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47).

In an all-out war, Henderson landed grueling strikes to the midsection of Rua's face as the fight appeared to be coming to an end.

But Rua held strong as Henderson continued to pound away.

At one point, Henderson bloodied Rua's nose with a huge left uppercut.

Despite failing to finish Rua, Henderson continued to exchange strikes with "Shogun" until the final round came to a close.

After a career filled with brutal strikes and knockouts combined with a performance such as UFC 139, Henderson now moves into an elite class.

Dan Henderson is the hardest hitter in mixed martial arts.