Today, Henderson told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that he wouldn't be surprised if more top-level fighters follow his example and explore options outside of the sport's biggest promotion.
"It's inevitable," Henderson said. "For a while, there wasn't any other options, and fighters were not really keen on that idea of not having a place to shop around. They weren't real happy with the UFC kind of having a monopoly on everything. It's their way or the highway, and now there is another option. That makes [fighters] feel a little more comfortable."
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"If I was the only guy over there and would walk through everybody that they had, I wouldn't have gone over. Strikeforce has some guys that are going to challenge me. I don't do this just for the money or whatever. I do it for the challenge. If none of these matchups were going to excite me or give me goosebumps, then I'm not going to do it. I do have goosebumps thinking about pretty much all three of their champions at those weight classes."
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"[My first Strikeforce fight] will be on the next CBS show, and I'm not sure when that is," Henderson said. "I've still got about four months, probably. We're not exactly sure of the date.
about 2 years ago
MMASuPreMaCy
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YUP
March or April. They don’t want to compete with the Olympics and want to advertise through March Madness. =)
It’s two bad the Winter Olympics start Feb 12th, because Feb 13th would have been the perfect date to run their next show. They could have done massive build-up with Herchel’s Jan 30th fight, then a couple of CBS teaser spots on the Superbowl, plus there would be no UFC fighters available to counter-program against them. Now they may have to be looking at a Rich Franklin, Randy Couture, Kimbo Slice card and Roy Nelson card. I wish them luck.
“For a while, there wasn’t any other options”
When was this? PRIDE, Dream, Affliction, Elite, Strikeforce- there have always been more options other than those owned by Zuffa.
The only thing Jon Jones does better than Matt Hamill is hear.
(And smash faces)
by ufc4 on Dec 8, 2009 9:27 PM EST via mobile reply actions
No there wasn’t. After Pride there was, maybe, Affliction as a viable option for up to 6 months, after which they were determined to abandon the ship. I think a lot of people are confusing the idea that any other mma organization with one which has comparable salaries, as competition. If no one has the resources to offer competitive wages, the UFC will therefore have no competition. In fact this is probably the only reason the UFC feels threatened by Strikeforce, not because they believe that Strikeforce has the potential to supplant them, but that they will destabilize their current pay structure.
So you said after Pride there was Affliction and now there is Strikeforce, so when exactly was it that “there wasn’t any other options”?
The only thing Jon Jones does better than Matt Hamill is hear.
(And smash faces)
The more options the better, and it doesn’t benefit the fighters if they don’t have any. I think he made his point. Many wouldn’t consider EliteXC an option, before Affliction was around.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Dec 8, 2009 11:18 PM EST up reply actions
Why wouldn’t Elite be an option? They were on network TV and were throwing money around left and right, seems like a perfect situation for someone in Hendo’s seat.
The only thing Jon Jones does better than Matt Hamill is hear.
(And smash faces)
Well since there Pride has been gone for 2 years now, and was scaling back before that, and that Affliction was only around as a player (with limited number of fighter spots of course) for six months, I would say that there has been no real competition for 2 of the last 2.5 years. And if your contract wasn’t up during that short six-month window that Affliction was going nuts, you missed out and didn’t have much leverage in negotiations.
“I don’t do this just for the money or whatever. I do it for the challenge. If none of these matchups were going to excite me or give me goosebumps, then I’m not going to do it. I do have goosebumps thinking about pretty much all three of their champions at those weight classes.”
Come on now Hendo, don’t lie to yourself and your fans it was all about the money the idea that SF matchups excite you is laughable. But I guess not having to face off against Nate The Great or Vitor again would really make me alot happier when I could be fighting guys like Shields and getting paid instead.
Agreed
What a load of BS. If he wanted a challenge he wouldn’t have run away from Belfort.
"Why am I here? Why does my mind have wings? Why do blue midgets hit me with fish?!" - The Tick
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