After several months of failed negotiations with the UFC, former PrideFC champion Dan Henderson has officially signed a fight contract with Strikeforce.
Henderson last fought at UFC 100 where he knocked out Michael Bisping and earned Knockout of the Night honors. That fight was the last on his UFC contract and negotiations between Hendo and the UFC stalled pretty quickly. UFC President Dana White repeatedly said that Henderson made unrealistic demands during the negotiation process.
In an interview with Mike Chiapetta, White says that he in essence “forced” Henderson’s hand in signing with Strikeforce.
“He’s happy, but the reality is that I pushed him into signing that deal,” White told FanHouse. “I told people over the weekend that he’d sign within the next week.”
White says that while he originally entered negotiations in good faith, after three or four meetings with Henderson and his management, he realized it was unlikely the two sides would come to terms. Eventually, he lowered his original offer, effectively forcing Henderson’s hand in signing with Strikeforce.
“I wanted him to s**t or get off the pot,” he said. “He was in this limbo forever, and he needed more motivation to make a decision.
“For the money he wanted, he’s not worth it,” he said. “He’s not a big pay-per-view star, he’s not a big attraction, and he’s not going to sell out arenas. He wants way too much and he doesn’t bring anything to the table.”
Once again, we see Dana White contradicting himself with his comments. Dana consistently contends that he “puts together the best fights,” but his comments and actions prove otherwise.
White (and Zuffa) are only interested in making the money needed to grow the UFC as a business empire, not in making solid fights. If the UFC were truly interested in making the best matchups available, Dan Henderson would still be under the UFC banner.
At the very least, it would be nice to see Dana mature a bit at some point in the future and quit throwing fighters under the bus when they choose to do business elsewhere.
The terms of the Henderson’s fight contract with Strikeforce were not disclosed so it is unknown if Henderson is signed exclusively to Strikeforce or if he is free to compete with other promotions away from North America.
** UPDATE **
Loretta Hunt has an exclusive interview with Dan Henderson regarding his decision to sign with Strikeforce.
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Caesar Gracie
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Ben Cartlidge
wow i really didnt think the UFC was going to let Hendo go. now im thinking with age as a factor, Dan is probably going to finish out his career outside the UFC.
guys, on a completely unrelated note,
I’m thinking about going back to the old MMA HQ design (MMA HQ 3.0 if you will).
For those that dont remember, here’s a screenshot:
http://img.skitch.com/20091207-ci79u9mjbq1w29x21ndcfi75n7.jpg
What do you all think? Do you like the current design and layout or do you like the old layout better?
Age is the entire factor – white knows that Dan has 1-2 years left max – he didn’t help build the UFC like Couture did, so he isn’t getting the royal treatment, he isn’t going to get Chuck money, or Wandy money, or Couture money – he’s getting Scott Coker money baby..
on the website doc – I am indifferent – the current format works for me, but I have been posting on here since early 2007 so I could care less -
the old way looks better
Hendo is a professional in every sense of the word. Dana White deserved to be blasted by this guy and he chose not to. I like Dan a lot and hope having him in strikeforce attracts more fighters of his caliber to the promotion.
As for the site design. I’m kind of partial to the old style myself.
I hope Strikeforce gets as big as the UFC – I wouldn’t mind seeing the likes of say… Vladimir klitschko — Perhaps some up and coming Chuteboxe fighters – heck I wouldn’t mind seeing Shogun move over there, maybe Thiago Alves in the future, that would really send shockwaves through the establishment. What Strikeforce needs is about 10 more fighters with name recognition and the ability to call in to question the UFC’s monopoly on the “best fighters” claim- in essence, about 10 more Fedors – or perhaps just 5 more.. one for each division other than HW.
Good luck to Hendo, hope he rips em all apart.
Here’s the reason I don’t like Dana White – check these quotes out regarding Dan signing with Strikeforce – first Dan Henderson -
DAN HENDO HENDERSON: “I’d also like to thank Dana (White) and the UFC for the opportunities they provided me and I wish them ongoing success. I’ll continue to watch their events and I hope they’ll tune in to my fights in STRIKEFORCE. After all, I’m a true fan of our fantastic sport and would love only to see MMA continue to grow.”
Now for Dana White:
DANA (i have a girls name) WHITE: “For the money he wanted, he’s not worth it,” he said. “He’s not a big pay-per-view star, he’s not a big attraction, and he’s not going to sell out arenas. He wants way too much and he doesn’t bring anything to the table.”
Dana White is just a jerk – so unprofessional – Don King has more class in his “troll doll” hair than Dana in his entire being…
What stuck out to me was this.
“Eventually, he (Dana) lowered his original offer, effectively forcing Henderson’s hand in signing with Strikeforce.”
Thats always a deal breaker, those strong arm tactics dont work in negotiations man, only in the movies. When i say i want 200k and Dana says 100K, then i say ok how about 180K and Dana comes back with 80K… its like WTF?
Thats not negotiating man, thats disrespectful, as if hes saying you need us, your desperate for scraps, etc..
I agree with both your posts Kansas, Dana isnt doing things the right way. Between the exclusive contract stuff, the way they determine title shots and banning fighters sponsors from the UFC theyre really acting like Bullys in this business.
Thats all fine and dandy when you have the monopoly, but if Strikeforce can make money with their business model hopefully that monopoly will end.
As we know, Strikeforce has been scooping up talent like crazy, both great young talent and grizzled veteran talent. Now we could see Hendo vs Mousassi, Lawler, Shields, Diaz and hes also expressed interest in fighting Fedor.
Like i said before 2010 could be an amazing year for strikeforce! good luck to them man, they obviously wont crush the UFC but if they steal enough fighters it may force Dana to rethink his disrespectful tactics toward fighters.
Pot..kettle…black…
Until you lose the Sponsor ads on this page, you have no room to talk regarding money making.
Gatties could you clarify that? because im not sure what your point is.
What do ads have to do with anything?
your analogy really makes no sense at all.
I’m not opposed to the UFC or any business making many. they obviously need to make money to survive and that is all fine and good.
What I am opposed to is the double-talk that constantly comes out of Dana’s mouth. This situation proves case-in-point that they aren’t solely out to make the best fights possible, they are more interested in making the huge payday. Guys like Kimbo and Hulk Hogan prove that.
And I’ll keep running ads for all time, because I have to support the site costs, and all the many giveaways I run. Find me another site that gives away anything, much less anything of value. And I know that you know I don’t make anything of considerable value from the ads I run.
man gatties you are a legit d*ck! the ONLY time you ever post here is to talk sh*t, and more often then not you dont even respond to any rebuttals. it has never cost me a dime to take part in anything on this site AND ive even won stuff for coming here, and you have the nerve to talk like Doc is some kind of money sucking arsehole. long story short, no one here gives a flying f*ck about your opinions so do us all a favor and find a new site to troll on because i think most of us around here are over it.
Gatties brings the gaay wrestling drama RJ.. don’t be so hard, we need him to troll around sometimes and say nonsensical dumb stuff, it’s fun that way. really.
Well said R.J.! Doc I hope you make more money off of this site, you deserve to after all the work you put into it. I know this isnt your main job so after working wherever you do, you still come and work on this site. I hope you make even more.
P.s. I think I prefer the old layout.
im seeing the ufc pulling a coca-cola kinda move thinking there untouchable and passing up offers to get rid of competitors.Pepsi offered to sell itself to coke in the early 1900s and coke passed thinking it was just going to fade away,and now there cokes biggest competitor…….
Yeah not sure I get the ad reference either. What Dana said about Hendo has nothing to do with making money but has everything to do with being a ****
Check out the main card for the next strikeforce event dec 19.
Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez
Ronaldo Souza vs. Matt Lindland
Cung Le vs. Scott Smith
Robbie Lawler vs. Trevor Prangley
Muhammed Lawal vs. Mike Whitehead
Very nice.. and thats WITHOUT any of their recent acquisitions except for King Mo. They dont have a ton of guys to fill up all the divisions but the guys they DO have make fights worth watching.
Who has the UFC signed lately?
Coleman
Baroni
Buentello
Trigg
Matyushenko
Ortiz
Kimbo
did i miss any washed up or over hyped fighters that the UFC has signed lately? Dana wants to make the best fights? LOL BS man, theyre going for name recognition plain and simple.
HAHA!! – love it man “id i miss any washed up or over hyped fighters that the UFC has signed lately?”
i kinda like buentello,but its true if the ufc keeps only signing”names”and not talent in the long run they will be phucked.
Doc – this site is an anchor for my MMA sport habit – most of us here love it, you can change the face, keep it the same, keep the ads, lose some, get more, I don’t care, I WISH you could make MORE money, prosper in your hobby brother, prosper man. One day it will get bigger, but today, it’s like a community, like a family of guys, a couple gals, that get on and some days just look, some days we post, most days we just shoot the bull and give our opinions.
Gatties, I don’t get your point, but hey your family too, your like the uncle EVERYONE has, that shows up at Christmas time, starts dumping his RV crapper in the families gutter, so I am gonna start calling you…
UNCLE EDDIE. there. You BROTHA are UNCLE EDDIE!!!!
lol uncle Eddie lol. i guess the reason Gatties bugs me so much is that he pops in, talks sh*t, and then you dont see him for a few months, at least the other big mouths would debate with you….. man i miss Dennis! come back to us “Icefan” we need you to show these new troll how it works lol.
Doc i was looking at the old and new site designs side by side, the biggest difference is the MMAHQ title bar at the top. The new one is basically just the MMAHQ font type and the rest of the bar is the AD. The old one was much better because you had that photoshopped banner with pics of the fighters on it. Then every year there would be a new banner to signify guys who had stood out that year.
So i like the old one better.
If you DO decide to make a new banner for 2010, you have to update that picture of Overeem and swith it to Ubereem lol.
i like the old style for the site. this style is cool too and i guess it wont matter much ether way, but if it was my choice i’d say go back.
I want my picture in the banner… period.
speaking about ur picture whats up with ur eyebrows??????do u have any????are u really blonde or do u shave them offfff?????????
Uncle Eddie, from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 1&2 – played by Dennis Quaids older brother Randy Quaid – just for a reference if anyone doesn’t know where “Uncle Eddie” came from… by the way it is Christmas time so if you guys get a chance, watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.. it’s goooood.
What the heck are you talking about Richard?
ur picks on playground look like u have no eyebrows??????i was just wondering if that was a fashion statement or are u just really blonde…..
I really didn’t notice bud, I have lighter eyebrows yes.. my family has blonde/redheads as well as dutch/native american so I have black with red hints – my facial hair is very light – the picture probably just sucked. I have eyebrows dude lol.. I was like ‘what the heck’?
Doc good job on the change, I like it.
everything still isn’t working quite right some I’m working out the kinks trying to get us back to “old school” MMA HQ