Former UFC Champion Ben Henderson knows what it takes to succeed in the cage, and he thinks that a former WWE Champion in Daniel Bryan has those tools.
Henderson has spoken previously about Daniel Bryan training at the same gym as him, and elaborated to Fightful during a recent interview. Not only does Henderson think that Bryan could hold his own, but seems to hold the legendary pro wrestler in high regard.
“I think if Daniel Bryan tried to segue to MMA, he’d do great. He’s got a good background. The thing for me in life in general and competing is work ethic. He had a great work ethic. He’d take regular classes and not practice with the fight team, but you could tell he’s a high level professional athlete. He knows how to work. An hour long class would go by and people would start to chit-chat and not practicing technique, but an hour in, he’s still practicing technique, super focused on getting this technique. That’s huge. That takes people far in life. He’s got the tools, the work ethic and the actual technique. A lot of people will muscle, scramble, or not have technique. I think he would do great,” Henderson said to Fightful.
Bryan has made his love for martial arts well known, and actually got into a back-and-forth on Twitter with UFC fighter Mike Jackson, who defeated CM Punk last year. Bryan says that he feels like he could beat Jackson on the ground, and Henderson doesn’t disagree.
“Mike Jackson has experience in MMA. For the sake of MMA, you’d have to give it to Mike Jackson. If we’re talking in a gi, I think Daniel was a blue belt or purple belt when he left our place. I think in a gi, full jiu jitsu rules, I think Daniel Bryan would do pretty darn well. He’s trained under Jon Crouch,” Henderson said.
It doesn’t look like Bryan is going to follow the same path as CM Punk, but at least he has the endorsement of a well-regarded fighter.
You can see our full interview with Ben Henderson above.
