Thread: Hendo leaving ?

Dan Henderson’s career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship has ground to a close in a contract stalemate, and the former two-division PRIDE champion appears on the verge of signing a deal with the rival Strikeforce promotion.

Henderson, 39, devastatingly knocked out Michael Bisping in the second round of their heavily hyped fight on July 11 at UFC 100 in Las Vegas, in the final fight of his contract.

The two-time former U.S. Olympic wrestler had hoped to use that victory as a springboard to a middleweight title match against Anderson Silva.

But Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, weren’t keen on fighting Henderson again and didn’t think he’d done enough to warrant a rematch. Silva submitted Henderson in the second round of their title fight at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008. Since then, Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares, won a split decision over Rich Franklin and knocked out Bisping.

UFC president Dana White went back-and-forth on whether he’d make Silva-Henderson II, but said at UFC 103 in Dallas that he would give the next shot at Silva to Vitor Belfort, after Belfort scored a first-round knockout of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.

Henderson could not be reached for comment Friday, but White confirmed he was unable to come to terms with Henderson. White did not immediately confirm whether the UFC retains the right to match contract offers under the terms of Henderson’s previous deal. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker did not return phone calls.

White, though, said he wanted to re-sign Henderson but couldn’t agree on the money in a new deal.

“We have a good relationship with Henderson, and there are no hard feelings,” White said. “He had a figure he believed he was worth, and we had our own figure, and we weren’t able to get together.”

Henderson is 25-7 overall and 5-2 in the UFC. He is the only man in mixed martial arts history to simultaneously hold championships in two different weight classes. He was its 183-pound champion when he knocked out Wanderlei Silva to become its 205-pound title-holder as well.

He moved to the UFC after defeating Wanderlei Silva and was immediately put into a PRIDE vs. UFC championship match against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 75 on Sept. 8, 2007, in London. Jackson won a unanimous decision.

White said he was disappointed to lose Henderson, but said he was confident the UFC would be able to recover.

“We always find a way,” White said.

That's a surprise I must admit. It's only a matter of time before another promo gets it's financial act together and competes withthe ufc. It's what is needed. Fighters need to be free to fight on their own terms to decide the best at each weight. Idealistic, I know.

gutted...Hendo is my fav fighter at the mo.

i reckon they'll sort it out.

Hendo will go to strikeforce because they couldn't reach a desicion on his contract, most likely due to him wanting the rematch with A. Silva. I don't think he wanted a match with Nate Maurqaudt after A. Silva and his manager Ed Soares didn't think neither Hendo or Nate proved themselves worthy for a rematch. Personally I'd rather see the Phenom Vitor against the spider Silva anyday

Originally Posted by Rodders

i reckon they'll sort it out.

I think so.

Be a shame to see him go. Have to say im a Hendo fan , like his layed back/ respectful personality.

Lyoto .. Henderson said he would be happy to fight Nate if he had to .. the issue is about money, he doesnt feel he gets paid enough compared to other fighters despite the fact hes done great things in mma

also, his managment came out yday and said that the possibility of signing with strikeforce is there, but the ufc is still his preferred place

Roll on Hendo vs Mousasi! That's a fight I would love to see...

Apparently they've reached a deal, Dana was interviewed on RawVegas.tv and said it's all sorted.

Think you may have got your wires crossed Alan. There is a new interview with Dana on RawVegas, but in it he says that they couldn't agree terms as Dan was asking for "an obscene amount of money."