Dan Henderson, the only man to ever hold titles in two different weight-classes as the same time, appears to be done with his stay in the UFC. At least, that is the news according to a report today by Kevin Iole.
According to the report, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the promotion was unable to come to terms on a new contract with the former PrideFC champion.
Henderson could not be reached for comment Friday, but White confirmed he was unable to come to terms with Henderson. White indicated the company’s contractual right of first refusal had expired and they would not seek to match contract offers Henderson may receive. 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.”
The rest of the MMA internet is reporting news that Strikeforce will definitely sign (or is close to signing) Henderson to a deal. I don’t find where that bit of the story is coming from as neither Scott Coker nor Dan Henderson has made a comment on the situation.
While Strikeforce is the most obvious choice for any big name fighter not in the UFC to sign in North America, it is not necessarily a given that a deal with Strikeforce will come to reality.
First, if Zuffa was unable to come to an agreement on monetary terms with Hendo, there is little, if any, chance that Strikeforce could match those same demands. Henderson will fight again and land somewhere, with Strikeforce and DREAM being the most likely candidates.
Personally, I would not be surprised to see Henderson and the UFC work out some sort of deal by the beginning of next year when Henderson sees what kind of offers are fielded by other promotions.
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im thinking Dana made him a crap offer based on the idea that hes not a top guy in the eyes of the newer fans, he had a title shot at light heavy and lost then he had a shot at the title at middle and lost. they could have hyped him as this super MMA fighter if he had won at least one of those but for right now its like some of my (noob) friends say “how is this Pride guy awesome when the double champ couldnt even win one UFC title?” its sad but when you come to the end of a contract the fans better be begging to see you fight because if not you probably looking at a pay cut.
Theres been some clarification in this story from Coker and Dans camp. I think i read that they had coffee or something, but thats about it, theyre not close to signing Dan, just internet rumors.
Dans not getting the numbers he wants and Danas playing hardball, but eventually they will work it out and sign Hendo again. I think the problem is Dana always wants to sign guys for like 8 fights, but when your in title contention you could end up as the champ with a crappy contract. Im just speculating ofcourse, but thats something that has annoyed fighters in the past. Not only do they lock you in to a long term contract, but they reserve the right to tear it up and drop you whenever they choose.
So its like, if you do well they get a champ for a bargain basement price, if your not doing well they cut you and their losses in one fell swoop.
man.. its so unfair to the fighters…