White said Wednesday, "I guarantee you 1,000 percent that Dan Henderson is signed by Strikeforce."

...

"Honestly, I got a call from Dan's management a couple of days ago telling me Dan had turned down the UFC's offer," Coker said. "I guess the UFC made an offer and put a deadline on it. They turned it down and were calling to talk to me, but I told him I have this huge fight and there's a tremendous amount going on and I couldn't really deal with it at this point."

...

White said he wanted to re-sign Henderson, but not at the price Henderson proposed. Henderson had been in the mix to fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. White said he had no hard feelings toward Henderson.

"Dan and I have been friends and we will continue to be friends, but it just didn’t work out and he went to Strikeforce," White said.

Coker conceded he’d love to have Henderson under contract, but said White’s information is incorrect.

This is an interesting counter-point to the argument made in a BE diary that Dan Henderson was sitting in the catbird seat:

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.

But as I wrote a while back, Dana White is doing everything but wrapping a bow on Dan Henderson, setting him on fire and ringing Scott Coker's doorbell:

Hendo's not going to get the kind of guaranteed pay day he wants from the UFC and I doubt Strikeforce will want to pay him half a million dollars guaranteed either. He's got some value to Strikeforce as someone who could headline a Showtime against the winner of Mayhem Miller/Jake Shields or maybe against Gegard Mousasi. Maybe he could even fight Frank Shamrock or Cung Le in a match that would be booked for its promotional rather than competitive value. But I don't see that being worth $500,000 up front guaranteed to Strikeforce.

If Dan Henderson wants to start a bidding war for his services, Dana White has given notice that he won't be one of the competitors.

Dana White is clearly hoping that Scott Coker will be baited into paying huge money for Dan Henderson, much as Affliction paid a fortune for Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and he's willing to push the story in the media.

Here's a news flash for any budding media analysts out there -- if Strikeforce signs Dan Henderson, the news will come from Scott Coker or Dan Henderson, not Dana White.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/11/5/1118054/dana-white-i-guarantee-dan

Dana should pay the man, Dan is worth every penny IMO...

^^^ The truth......

Dan is my favorite MW. If he signs with Strikeforce I wouldn't be mad. I'd like to see Strikeforce succeed and Hendo is a great addition (if they can afford him).

Hendo wrecks Sheilds, Musasi may give him some trouble though...

Hendo wrecks Sheilds, Musasi may give him some trouble though...

I'd love to see this fight go down. And yeah He'd run through Jake.

UFC Middleweight Tournament Winners
UFC Knockout of the Night honors
RINGS tournament champion
PRIDE Welterweight & Middleweight Champion
PRIDE GP Champion

Dan is worth the cash.

UFC Middleweight Tournament Winners
UFC Knockout of the Night honors
RINGS tournament champion
PRIDE Welterweight & Middleweight Champion
PRIDE GP Champion

Dan is worth the cash.



According to Dana, Kimbo is worth more.....

Knocking out bisping and ruining the potential for a middleweight title massacre between Anderson Silva and Michael bisping was the beginning of the end for Henderson's ufc career.He should have been a good boy and took a dive like forrest Griffin did.

with Dan & Fedor...Strikeforce will go to new heights.

Dana should pay the man, Dan is worth every penny IMO...

Not at this stage of his career. The guy is 39 years old and his style is not one that the casuals really want to see.

You're right, nobody wants to see a guy who goes toe to toe with Rampage for 5 rounds and brutally KO's Bisping and Silva....

dan is worth that money at least for the next couple of years. he is a huge draw

According to Dana, Kimbo is worth more.....

In terms of marketing and who draws the crowds, and rolls in the cash, sadly, Kimbo is a much more worthwhile investment. Whether he loses more than he wins in irrelevant. He's going to draw crowds. You can't say the same about Dan when it comes to the everyday UFC/MMA fan.

You're right, nobody wants to see a guy who goes toe to toe with Rampage for 5 rounds and brutally KO's Bisping and Silva....

Anybody who though Bisping actually stood a chance with Henderson is out of their minds. But him knocking out Bisping is not the norm when he usually fights. The Palhares fight was extremely anti-climatic. And you can't say Dan was the crowd drawer for UFC 100, because GSP and Brock will always pull more viewers on their own than he does.

I like Dan Henderson and a lot of Hardcore fans can appreciate his style, but in terms of what sells to the casual fan, giving Dan a ****load of money doesn't make sense.

But Kimbo has to be around in order to draw the crowds. if he loses his next fight in embarassing fashion that could be it for Slice.

the intrigue Kimbo brings into his fight is his biggest selling point, but after losing how he did for the first time (in 14 seconds) I guaruntee you Kimbo's marketability took a hit

one more bad loss like that and he's history.

**anyone think Henderson signed on with Strikeforce for the potential of a fight with Fedor?

as sure with Mousasi, Cung Le, Shamrock and Sheilds all could be potential options

but any possibility Hendo can fight Fedor?

Dan Henderson deserves every penny, oh well, i'm sure he will be a great adition for strikeforce.

But Kimbo has to be around in order to draw the crowds. if he loses his next fight in embarassing fashion that could be it for Slice.

No it wouldn't. I hate to say it but look at Wanderlei, normally a guy who comes into the UFC and goes 1-3 would be given his walking papers, but the UFC keeps him around because he's a crowd favorite and a big draw.

Same goes for Slice. The casual fan can get behind a guy like Slice because he comes in and throws down every time and leaves it all in the cage, the same cannot be said for Dan.

the intrigue Kimbo brings into his fight is his biggest selling point, but after losing how he did for the first time (in 14 seconds) I guaruntee you Kimbo's marketability took a hit

Judging by the viewers TUF 10 is taking in, I'd say it didn't hurt him at all.


but any possibility Hendo can fight Fedor?

Doubtful

despite getting knocked out vs Rampage at 92 ... Wanderlei was still able to comeback and lose a competative decision at 99 with Frankin. Silva's also headlining the first UFC in Australia next year .. but despite his poor UFC record Silva's a big name in the sport and proven. (your talking about a hall of famer and one of the best fighters all time at 205) so he'll be given more chances to eff up

same can be said in regards to Chuck Liddell who despite being KO'd at UFC 71 can come back and main event 76 ... main events 88 knocked out .. co-main events UFC 97

but Wanderlei and Chuck are proven commodities

sure the casual fan can get behind Kimbo. I don't doubt that, but if he gets flattened in 30 seconds vs Alexander I don't see Kimbo lasting too long in the UFC

because eventually people won't care about a 35 year old youtube sensation with a grimy beard.

Kimbo has to win or at least lose competitively for interest to remain in him.

as Slice is lucky to sign on with the UFC at all, after his embarassing defeat.

regarding TUF and Kimbo.

How can you say the loss didn't hurt Kimbo at all?

Kimbo went from being the face of a company (Elite XC)

to basically going onto TUF on last resort (not a bad option)

look what got Kimbo fighting on the Ultimate Fighter in the first place .. sure the ratings for when he fought did well, but understandably they would .. again human interest

Slice is only 3-1 and fighting one of the best fighters in the house

but im saying for how long can Kimbo draw?

he isn't a long time proven name, like the example you provided with Wanderlei Silva. Slice pretty much came up from nowhere

(worst case scenerio) if he's unable to be competative in fights ... what keeps the public interested in him?

**I recognize Hendo isn't very popular with the casual fans, but him coming over to Strikeforce does have some mainstream appeal as a former UFC + PRIDE fighter

so while far fetched, it wouldn't be a bad idea for Strikeforce to throw Henderson at Fedor.

I don't have time to dissect your entire post I'll just say what I feel.

Chuck and Silva are proven commodities I agree.

But Kimbo, regardless of how embarrassing he looked against Seth Petruzelli, he still managed to pull in, I think, around 10 million viewers when he fought Roy Nelson on TUF. That's pretty good for a guy who a couple years ago was fighting out of Boatyards and Backyard BBQ's.


If Kimbo wasn't a worthwhile investment he would have never agreed to bring him into the UFC. Dana is all about the money a little more than he is about showcasing the best fighters, why do you think Brock headlined UFC 100, why do you think all the TUF 10 promo pre hype videos featured Kimbo Slice. It's marketing.

Kimbo may end up losing in the UFC more than he wins, but I don't think that will hurt his marketability too much among casual fans. They'll keep him around. Same reason they keep guys like Chris Leben and Houston Alexander around. They may suck but they put on entertaining fights that keeps people tuned in.

Are you telling me that the majority of fans would want to see Henderson fight Franklin again, rather than Kimbo vs. Alexander? I know I wouldn't necessarily, but you have to look at it from a marketing and money perspective, which in this capitalistic society, is what matters more.

Knocking out bisping and ruining the potential for a middleweight title massacre between Anderson Silva and Michael bisping was the beginning of the end for Henderson's ufc career.He should have been a good boy and took a dive like forrest Griffin did.


i really dont think forrest threw the fight.. griffin was already hurt..he just looked slow cuz from the start he was taking his time, looking for an opening.. giving him way too much respect as far as power goes..silva just kept hitting him on the right spot.. right off the start u see when silva punches him u can see forrest smile..its well known alot of guys smile when they hurt by the punch..they think the other guy might just think his punches arent hurting him so they'll stop.. he even wrote about the smiling part in his book.. then silva had him on the ground dropping bombs. he was already seeing stars thats why when they stood up he was throwing punches all slow and didnt keep his hands up and silva was able to ko him with ease..if u watch the ko in slow motion u can tell griffin was throwing his punches hard. its just silva been working on his boxing alot..i even seen a video of him training with freddie roach.

UFC Middleweight Tournament Winners
UFC Knockout of the Night honors
RINGS tournament champion
PRIDE Welterweight & Middleweight Champion
PRIDE GP Champion

Dan is worth the cash.


he won a medal in the olympics as a wrestler also, the man is a true all time great and living legend



You're right, nobody wants to see a guy who goes toe to toe with Rampage for 5 rounds and brutally KO's Bisping and Silva....

when i saw the mauro ranallo interview with dana and hendo, it sounded like dana doesn't want hendo in the UFC, that he purposely lowballed hendo so he'd take the deal with strikeforce, dana was pretty disrespectful to hendo by saying he'd have the title shot and then giving it to belfort and pulling him out of his last two fights. if i were hendo i'd say " f.uck the UFC "

I Agree promising Henderson the Title shot then turning it around and Giving it to Belfort was pretty low, The contract negotiations probably had alot to do with the decision i believe.
giving a title shot to a fighter with only one fight left on his contract would not be very smart.

I don't have time to dissect your entire post I'll just say what I feel.

Chuck and Silva are proven commodities I agree.

But Kimbo, regardless of how embarrassing he looked against Seth Petruzelli, he still managed to pull in, I think, around 10 million viewers when he fought Roy Nelson on TUF. That's pretty good for a guy who a couple years ago was fighting out of Boatyards and Backyard BBQ's.

If Kimbo wasn't a worthwhile investment he would have never agreed to bring him into the UFC. Dana is all about the money a little more than he is about showcasing the best fighters, why do you think Brock headlined UFC 100, why do you think all the TUF 10 promo pre hype videos featured Kimbo Slice. It's marketing.

Kimbo may end up losing in the UFC more than he wins, but I don't think that will hurt his marketability too much among casual fans. They'll keep him around. Same reason they keep guys like Chris Leben and Houston Alexander around. They may suck but they put on entertaining fights that keeps people tuned in.

Are you telling me that the majority of fans would want to see Henderson fight Franklin again, rather than Kimbo vs. Alexander? I know I wouldn't necessarily, but you have to look at it from a marketing and money perspective, which in this capitalistic society, is what matters more.

oh I know Kimbo is a worthwhile investment, which is obviously why Dana signed him up when given a chance

yes the fight on TUF vs Roy was very huge, and in addition to being well promoted if you don't remember it was hyped as "the biggest fight in Ultimate Fighter History" and again Kimbo was fighting vs one of the best fighters in the house ... not surprised the fight got many to tune in, it appeals on human interest alone.

I was actually going to get to Brock, so good to bring it up as it's the same idea .. market someone with a lot of charisma, casual fan appeal etc

but even Brock has to win to be a draw. Take his debut vs Mir which ended in a horribly short tap out .. yet 2 UFC fights later Brock is the UFC Heavyweight champ and probably at his high or close to it in marketability.

marketing is a big factor, and Brock winning helps his marketability. (back to Kimbo)

which is why I feel that at the very least Slice has to be competitive in fights as he appeals strictly to the casual fans. At the moment 1/2 his professional fights have been on basic cable (vs Petrizelli and vs Thompson) add Alexander to the list, making it more then half. so sure Leben + Alexander suck but have been kept around

but Kimbo mainly appeals to casual fans, which is why I believe it's that much more important for Slice to be competitive/entertaining. Maybe the fans will watch regardless of how Kimbo does, but who knows .. only time will tell.

as a win vs Houston and it obviously raises the interest of "who'll he fight next"

but a loss .. and well im not going to bother playing out too many hypotheticals ... we'll see in December

but you get the idea, Slice has to demand that interest from the fans

take that example you used of Brock .. how does he demand attention? (other then trash talk)

.. because if Slice just keeps losing, the "lovable loser" angle will start to get old fast.

**who knows if Slice will "keep losing" I don't want to shut the door on Kimbo but im just playing both sides of the coin so to speak as

Best case: he tears through the competition, and wins impressively .. demand for his fights will be high

what about if the opposite happens?

agreed on your last point as I would much rather see the Houston-Kimbo bout because marketing aside .. it appeals to me more from a fight stand point.

thanks for the response. much appreciated.