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EXCLUSIVE: Former UFC fighter Dan Henderson has officially endorsed Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026, he told Pak Gazette Digital.
Bianco, the current Riverside County sheriff, is running as a Republican and led the field in an October poll conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, ahead of Republican challenger Steve Hilton and Democratic front-runner Katie Porter.
Henderson said Bianco earned his support in 2020, when the sheriff refused to enforce the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home and mask orders.
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“It was kind of a blessing that he didn’t shut everything down while we were responsible for everything. I kind of admired how he handled that whole situation,” Henderson said.
“A lot of business owners would have gone bankrupt, and maybe even worse, as far as losing a lot of the things they had, if he had closed all the businesses like the governor wanted… It was more common sense, he didn’t panic and think the world was going to end.”
As a lifelong California resident, Henderson has faced some hardships in his home state in recent years under the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats. Henderson said that while he plans to stay in California, he has seen many of his closest friends flee to Texas, Tennessee and Florida.
Henderson shared his biggest complaints.
gas prices
Henderson drives a Grenadier and said it takes about $100 to fill his tank at current gas prices in California. He wants the next governor to take advantage of natural oil off California’s coast to increase the state’s access to gasoline and lower prices, rather than relying on foreign suppliers.
“We have the highest prices in the country,” Henderson said. “We have a lot of oil in the ground that we don’t even use, but we buy it all and we have a big deficit every year because we don’t use our resources.”
The immigration crisis and the persecution of ICE agents
“I think everyone should come into our country legally, just like if we wanted to go to other countries, we have to do it legally,” Henderson said. “I have friends who are legal [immigrants]and they would like to see everyone else do the same thing they do, legally.”
Residents surround federal and Border Patrol agents planning their escape after an immigration raid in Bell, California, on June 19, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
ICE agents in California have been frequent targets of protesters in 2025. In June, during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles, protesters allegedly threw rocks and bottles at agents, resulting in injuries. In July 2025, officers conducting a raid in Camarillo and Oxnard were allegedly attacked with rocks and one of their vehicles was blocked and struck.
Newsom has signed multiple laws affecting ICE agents, including a measure prohibiting federal and local law enforcement from wearing masks that conceal their identities while on duty. The laws also prohibit ICE from entering schools and hospitals without a warrant.
“[ICE] “He’s trying to protect everyone by catching criminals, not just immigrants, but more of the worst immigrants, not even immigrants but illegals, and not being able to do their job and make our state safer… I think it’s ridiculous what they have to deal with, some of their biggest problems come from our citizens, from some on the left.”
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Trans athletes in women’s sports
California education policy currently allows biological males to compete in high-level girls’ sports.
“It’s just not fair to women who train hard to beat other women and, you know, because of their gender, they’re the best in the world, but then they’re forced to compete against men… in most sports, girls don’t stand a chance,” Henderson said.
Newsom himself has said, several times, that he believes men competing in women’s sports is “unfair.” However, it has not taken any steps to address the problem.
“He doesn’t really care much about fixing it,” Henderson added.
Los Angeles wildfires
Newsom came under immense criticism when wildfires ravaged the city in January.
“[Newsom] I just didn’t make sure everything was handled correctly. And there was not enough water reserve and that’s it. “A lot of people didn’t know that was a problem, but I’m sure he did,” Henderson told Pak Gazette Digital.
Newsom ordered an independent investigation from the Los Angeles Department of Water Pressure on Jan. 10 regarding the loss of water pressure and the deliberate closure of the reservoir, calling it “deeply concerning,” according to court records.
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Governor Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles wildfires (Getty)
Newsom added that the loss of water pressure “likely impacted” firefighters’ ability to protect homes and evacuation zones in Pacific Palisades.
