Dan Henderson believes fighters like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones should be exempt from achieving GOAT status.
When you think of the greatest fighters in the history of mixed martial arts, reigning UFC heavyweight world champion Jon Jones and former middleweight king Anderson Silva undoubtedly come to mind. However, some believe they don’t deserve the designation after testing positive for a variety of banned substances over the years.
That includes former PRIDE and Strikeforce titleholder Dan Henderson.
Appearing on the JAXXON Podcast opposite MMA icon Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, ‘Hendo’ was asked if he believes that former two-time champion Israel Adesanya has done enough in his career to unseat ‘The Spider’ as the middleweight division’s all-time great.
“I think he did a lot,” Henderson said of Adesanya. “I don’t think he did as much as Anderson Silva did, but he also didn’t test positive like Anderson Silva did. He tested positive twice, I think. I don’t know when the first one was, but one was when he was coming back after breaking his leg. On his comeback, he might have been doing some stuff, but I think he tested positive one other time also. It puts an asterisk on him cause you never know how long he was doing it.
Asked if he believes Jon Jones would carry that same asterisk, Henderson said:
“In my mind, yeah,” he said without hesitation. “It would be tough to [name Jon Jones the GOAT of MMA]. It’d be like Lance Armstrong in cycling, you know what I mean. And Jon Jones tested positive more than once, though some of it was recreational.”
Dan Henderson Remains Adamant That He Never Once Took Steroids
Before signing with the UFC in 2007, Dan Henderson made a name for himself under the PRIDE FC banner. The Japan-based promotion was notorious for allowing its fighters to run amok with steroids, almost to the point of encouraging it. However, Henderson remains adamant that he never once partook in any banned substances after representing USA Wrestling in the Olympic Games.
“I came from two Olympics and USA Wrestling always had no advance notice drug testing, kinda like what the UFC has had over the last few years,” Henderson said. “I came from that so when I went to PRIDE and when they hand you a paper cup with some Japanese words on it, they said go ahead and go to the bathroom. Bring it back when you’re done. You just set it on the table not even sealed or anything. It’s 100% different than the way the regulations are with USADA and WADA.”
While Henderson maintains that he has never taken steroids in his competitive career, he was one of the first fighters to take TRT or testosterone replacement therapy. At least until fighters like Chael Sonnen abused the system resulting in its outright ban in 2014.
“I was one of the first to start [TRT]. I asked them. I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that. That’s like steroids isn’t it?’ I found out more about it. It’s just replacing your hormones. I asked the athletic commission and they said yeah, so I think I was the first one to open that can of worms, but then everyone else abused it. F*cked it up for the rest of us.”
In October, the UFC announced that they would be parting ways with the United States Anti-Doping Agency, ending an eight-year partnership with the organization. Speaking about the sudden split, Dan Henderson suggested that the UFC was likely looking for more control over when their fighters would be eligible to compete.
“I think the [UFC] didn’t have enough control to overlook certain things,” Henderson said. “I don’t know. I have no idea why, but I think it’s not a good look to do that. Having a third party doing that for you is a lot better than doing it in-house.”
Watch the full episode below:
