Strikeforce should jump on this guy for a one fight deal. It would give Mousasi a challenge and boost up Hendo’s stock to the UFC should he win.

Wow. Something seems wrong with this. The UFC is so careful about guys with contracts that are close to expiring…why would they let Dan fight Bisping in the last fight of his contract, then have the ability to walk away? Gross is a reliable guy normally, but I just don’t think this could be true.

Dan will have a contract in place with them soon, bet on it.

uhmm . . . while it is not fair to both Henderson and Marquardt.

For a guy that was given an unprecedented TWO title shots coming into the UFC organization, he sure seems bent on competing for a title shot. If he were granted a title shot, and loss, what would his next move be? Win 1 or 2 fights in the LHW and demand a title shot?

You’re absolutely correct.
Shogun was considered the best LHW and the UFC gave him Forrest Griffin?!?

If he doesnt get a title shot, would he be pissed off enough to sign with another promotion regardless of money?

I think the real moral of the story is that Dana White shouldn’t have publicly said that Dan gets the next title shot.

(hopes for Henderson vs. Marquart)

Henderson and Marquardt is the fight to make. It’s the fight I think the majority of fans want to see.

Make it a main event of one of the upcoming Nov/Dec/Jan cards, and give Henderson a big payday to make it happen.

The tricky part is whether or not this is for an interim belt. At minimum I think you need Anderson Silva to make some kind of substantial commitment to a run at LHW or HW before you can make an interim belt.

But Henderson and Marquardt need to fight. Time for Henderson to do what’s right.

henderson with his teeth hangin low… good call.

Anderson sure acts like Mayweather in terms of demanding big pay days when honestly…he doesn’t generate a ton of revenue. he was well on his way to doing it with the way that he dispatched Leben and others…and somewhere in there, he forgot that having two boring as hell fights in a row would not endear him to fans and would hurt his checkbook. the sport is about putting butts in seats and selling ppv, like it or not. when he does more of that (ie: makes people more excited to see him) then he can make demands like deciding who he fights etc.

Frankly, I’m a little tired of Dan Henderson and his demands for title shots. Since the guy came into the UFC he’s done very little to merit the demands. He’s had two title shots, and lost them both. Since losing to Silva he had an incredibly close fight with Rich Franklin that he arguable lost but got a close decision in and beat Bisping, who nearly everyone seemed to think was both overrated and who clearly had no common sense when it came to Henderson’s main weapon. He was, quite possibly, one of the worst coaches in the history of TUF, too.

So remind me again exactly why Henderson has “earned” a rematch with Silva? I get that on paper the guy is still one of the top guys in the division. But as far as I can tell he has absolutely zero real leg to stand on in insisting that he get a rematch before fighting anyone else who is also at the top of the division, like Marquardt. I haven’t seen anything since his last fight with Silva to suggest that he’s made some change that will result in a different outcome; the same can’t be said about Marquardt, who has been patient and progressed significantly since his first bout with Silva.

I’m a little surprised that more people don’t feel that Henderson’s being a prima donna in this whole thing, frankly. I’ve always like Henderson as a fighter and I’ve always been impressed with his ability to compete and be so successful in multiple weight classes before anyone else was really doing that. I’d just like to see him shut up, fight Marquardt, and actually earn himself another shot instead of acting like he’s entitled to it based solely on his reputation from Pride.

If Hendo fights Gegard he will lose, and he will never fight in UFC, so thats not going to happen, and i dont see him get a fight with Silva, even though iMOp he does deserve it , but so does Nate, so final conclusion make Nate fight Hendo, then winner gets Silva thats of course if Silva doesnt duck for a bigger paycheck. i hope they gring in Gegard so he can shake and bake the MW and LHW and HW

According to the text I received from Dana Anderson IS having surgery.

It seems like it might be a good lie to push so they can make Hendo fight Nate…since Silva is out of the picture.

the middleweight belt was defended four short months ago. The UFC wanted Silva to go up to 205 and fight thier cover boy Forrest, which he whipped. Don’t make it sound like Anderson Silva is ducking people at 185. He has destroyed everyone the UFC put in front of him.

Again, the defense was four months ago. We aren’t talking about the Strikeforce HW belt here.

Also, regarding Henderson as a draw; the fight between Henderson and Rampage was back in the fall of 2007; while that may not seem like a long time to you or I (two old school fans I’m assuming?) it’s ancient history to most UFC fans. Also, that fight drew so many viewers because it was free; a fact you neglect to mention. Put this event on tomorrow and watch what kind of numbers it draws.

You also didn’t mention Okami at all, who still should be next for a Silva defense.

That whole comment about Henderson not making the most of his chance? Huh? He gave it his all, like he does in every fight. He just got beat by a better fighter, period.

While Henderson may not be a

remember when gsp first fought matt h. and hughes had has way with him. he admitted he was kinda in awe of him. second match totally different results. nate m. was suprememly confident he would beat maia and he had a great knockout. i say he will be a much more confident man fighting silva for the second time. everyone knows the mental part is 60% of the fight game. i’m not saying he will win but i would expect a war. it’s a match up i want to see again.

Hendo needs to move to 205, fight Wandy or something then retire.

That Hendo only has a few fights left in him (already in his 40’s), so he wants big fights. Nothing wrong with that and he has definitely done enough in MMA to warrant that. The problem with what is going on in the UFC right now is that EVERYONE wants big title fights and make big money before they retire. If Nate beats Hendo, he loses out on a ton of cash.

If you read my post about Aging MMA, a good amount of these MMA stars are aging and thinking about retiring. They obviously want security in their lives after they retire. This is why a good amount of fighters are now doing movies, demanding only big money fights, etc. They are making the most out of these opportunities that may not come to them again.

If Anderson beats him he should take off his belt, polish it and hand it to Dana White. Then, he can concentrate on big fights at 205.

There isn’t anything (outside of Okami) that he has left to prove at 185.

The UFC can pay both of these fighters well and put it on the Lesnar/Carwin card as a co-main event. They won’t break a record with PPV buys but they will relieve themselves of a problem in finding competition for Silva.

Now wasn’t that simple?

I texted Dana last night asking him if in fact Hendo is a free agent, his response:

“No, josh gross is a moron”

Josh Gross is wrong a good amount of the time so I’m taking Dana’s word on this one. As much time as they had between filming TUF and his fight it doesn’t make much sense to have him go into such a high-profile fight as a pending free agent.