via assets.heavy.com
As I wrote today at Heavy.com,Dana's car and his promotion are a bit of a wreck right now. The UFC is having some major issues keeping main event fighters healthy and happy. They lost Silva, GSP and Machida through injury-them's the breaks. But some other guys are dropping out for some odd reasons.
First they lose Rampage Jackson, in the midst of the most watched season of The Ultimate Fighterever, a season designed to push his fight with Rashad Evans. Rampage wanted to fulfill a childhood dream (and make mad scrilla) as the star of the new A-Team remake. His fight with Evans was postponed, then after a Dana White diss session, straight up cancelled as Rampage announced he wasn't coming back at all.
Meanwhile, Dan Henderson, the former Olympian who decisively shut the mouth of the voluble Brit Michael Bisping is in the midst of a holdout. Henderson, at 39, has never been hotter. After a high profile coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighter9, Henderson knocked out Bisping in a highlight worthy fashion, then delivered an extra shot for good measure. It was the most memorable moment at UFC 100 that didn't involve Brock Lesnar promising to hump Sable. It was also Henderson's last contracted UFC fight - and he wants a million dollar signing bonus to re up. Dana White doesn't drive a Ferrari F430 because he likes to give his money away, so that didn't happen. Scratch headliner number two.
And then you have Brock. The UFC's biggest star, the heavyweight champion of the world, and the victim of the kissing disease? As Heavy.com was first to report, Lesnar, who was scratched from UFC 106 this month because of an illness, has still not started training. Word finally came out yesterday that he has mononucleosis, a disease that can keep even the toughest man sidelined for two months.
All of the turmoil leaves Henderson sitting pretty. He is waiting at home for the UFC to call. And if guys keep dropping like flies, they will have no choice but to give in to his demands. Henderson has the added bonus of being able to fight in two weight classes competitively. If you need to slot him in, for the right price, he is good to go.
