Sherdog’s Top 10: One-Round Fights

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6. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson
Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Henderson”
July 30, 2011

Emelianenko’s long-awaited move to the United States did not turn out quite the way he or most pundits expected, as consecutive losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva ended his winning streak and put a dent in his marketability. Henderson, on the other hand, was in the midst of a career resurgence, with brutal knockout wins over Renato Sobral and Rafael Cavalcante overshadowing the lackluster loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut. The time would never be better for a meeting between the two legendary competitors.

The fight itself was everything we could have hoped for. Only a few seconds elapsed before the two greats began to exchange enormous punches, and even the grinding against the cage was of the highest possible level. When they separated, Emelianenko cracked “Hendo” with a couple of right hands, while Henderson landed low kicks. An enormous flurry from the Russian put down Henderson, but the American somehow recovered, escaped out the back door and then landed a thunderous uppercut under the turtled Emelianenko’s arm. Two crushing, unanswered punches led referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the fight.

Between the stakes and the history behind each fighter, few scraps have ever come close to matching Emelianenko-Henderson.

Number 5 » Alvarez vs. Kawajiri