The word “superfight” gets thrown around plenty in MMA, but 18 years ago, a legit one went down in Ohio.
In the UFC 82 main event March 1, 2008, middleweight champion Anderson Silva put his title on the line against Pride welterweight (183 pounds) champ Dan Henderson. Henderson was a two-division champion in Pride and lost a title unifier at light heavyweight to Quinton Jackson at UFC 75, his return to the promotion.
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Against Silva, though, Henderson was expected to be a major threat because of his power and strong wrestling. And in the first round, Henderson took Silva down and worked ground-and-pound that had the Brazilian champ in some duress. In fact, it was the first time Silva lost a round in the UFC.
But in the mark of a man considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time, Silva rallied in the second round, and despite coming into the fight with knockouts in his most recent eight wins, and without a submission since his pro debut, he forced Henderson to tap with a rear-naked choke.
The win was Silva’s third middleweight title defense, and he went on to defend the belt seven more times before he lost it to Chris Weidman in a shocker at UFC 162 in 2013.
On the 18-year anniversary of UFC 82 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, check out highlights in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: March 1, 2008 in MMA history: Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson, UFC 82
