Hendo (middle) with team and (right) / Photo: Ricardo Pantcho's personal archives
According to UFC president Dana White, the fight between Dan Henderson and Maurício Shogun has joined the list of the greatest showdowns in UFC history. The fight is covered in the issue of GRACIEMAG now in the works. While you wait on yours (if you’re not a subscriber yet, get on board here.), here’s a taster of Henderson’s take on his battle with Shogun.
In the final round, Shogun mounted you and fired off a number of shots. What was going through your head at that moment?
I knew I’d won the fight, so I had to keep moving to make it to the end of the round. I could tell he was too tired to knock me out at that point.
You do your ground training with the Brazilian Ricardo “Pantcho” Feliciano. How did you put your Jiu-Jitsu to use when you were under fire from Shogun?
I was really tired. If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I might have used Jiu-Jitsu to get out from under him. My strategy there was to not let Shogun get back mount; I didn’t want to risk it, since I knew I’d win the decision. I managed to hang on till the end of the round–that was all I was thinking about.
What does this fight mean to your career?
It was really important to my career. I think this win was enough to earn me another shot at the title. That’s what I’m hoping for, but you never know.
