When rumblings began several months back that Dan Henderson (25-7) might be walking away from the UFC, many viewed the former PRIDE champ's negotiations with Strikeforce as mere posturing.
When Strikeforce announced on Monday that Henderson had officially signed on with the promotion, many began to wonder who might be next.
Today, Henderson told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that he wouldn't be surprised if more top-level fighters follow his example and explore options outside of the sport's biggest promotion.
"It's inevitable," Henderson said. "For a while, there wasn't any other options, and fighters were not really keen on that idea of not having a place to shop around. They weren't real happy with the UFC kind of having a monopoly on everything. It's their way or the highway, and now there is another option. That makes [fighters] feel a little more comfortable."
UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said Henderson's contract expectations were unrealistic during their recent negotiations. Henderson believes that to be untrue, and he said he was very happy with what Strikeforce was able to offer.
"I'm pretty happy with every aspect of [my Strikeforce contract]," Henderson said. "I'm excited to be able to fight on CBS – that seems like it would be a pretty cool deal – and to be able to bring new fans to the sport, which is what's going to happen with CBS."
The network-television deal Strikeforce has with CBS will undoubtedly expose Henderson to new fans. And Henderson believes he'll be able to do the same for Strikeforce as the organization centers on him as a focus of its U.S. marketing.
"I believe that was their objective by signing me," Henderson said. "They want to make sure that they use me as their marquee guy in the U.S.
"Fedor Emelianenko, as great as he is of a fighter, he's not that well-known in the U.S., and he doesn't speak English. It's a little tougher for them to send him out to different shows to help market Strikeforce."
Additionally, Henderson thinks Emelianenko would actually be an ideal opponent for him at some point during his new contract. But current middleweight champ Jake Shields and light heavyweight title holder Gegard Mousasi are also on his radar.
"There will be bouncing around, I'm sure, based on the fact that there's a lot of guys that are interesting and big challenges, and they're not all in the same weight class at Strikeforce," Henderson said. "We'll see what happens.
"If I was the only guy over there and would walk through everybody that they had, I wouldn't have gone over. Strikeforce has some guys that are going to challenge me. I don't do this just for the money or whatever. I do it for the challenge. If none of these matchups were going to excite me or give me goosebumps, then I'm not going to do it. I do have goosebumps thinking about pretty much all three of their champions at those weight classes."
Henderson said he's not sure when he'll debut for the organization, but he's certain it will be broadcast on CBS. The former dual-weight class title holder also needs to figure out in which division he'll first compete.
"[My first Strikeforce fight] will be on the next CBS show, and I'm not sure when that is," Henderson said. "I've still got about four months, probably. We're not exactly sure of the date.
"Pretty much, after the first of the year, when the dust settles, I'm going to kind of figure out what weight class I want to fight."
Whether or not Henderson made the right move in coming to Strikeforce will be determined in the coming years. But after feeling disrespected by the UFC for a variety of reasons – including a less-than-desired contract offer and the hesitance to grant Henderson a second shot at Anderson Silva – the 39-year-old said he feels very comfortable with his decision.
Time well tell whether others follow "Hollywood's" lead.
"I was happy with every aspect of [the Strikeforce offer], money included," Henderson said. "Obviously, they were really adamant about wanting to try and sign me, so obviously they were very respectful. Dana has a reputation of not being so respectful. That's just how he is, and I think the fans know that. They also know and respect the fact that Dana's done a lot of great things for MMA. I appreciate that as well.
"I don't have any hard feelings. It is what it is now, and I finally decided where my next fight's going to be. I'm excited to start training and getting in shape and going over there to beat somebody up in Strikeforce."|||Competition will benefit the fighters and the fans. Don't be surprise if you see GSP fighting live on Spike next year.|||
Competition will benefit the fighters and the fans. Don't be surprise if you see GSP fighting live on Spike next year.
Indeed, I hope Strikeforce can survive.
Maybe the UFC will start putting on some quality cards again now. In the past the mentality was like "they will buy it anyways, they have nowhere else to go".
I wouldnt mind seeing some of fighters in the UFC that can never get past the title defender, switching towards Strikeforce. Atleast we can finally see some exciting matchups then (GSP vs A.Silva), and the fighters that switch over will bring alot more excitement at the other side. :)|||
Today, Henderson told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that he wouldn't be surprised if more top-level fighters follow his example and explore options outside of the sport's biggest promotion.
"It's inevitable," Henderson said. "For a while, there wasn't any other options, and fighters were not really keen on that idea of not having a place to shop around. They weren't real happy with the UFC kind of having a monopoly on everything. It's their way or the highway, and now there is another option. That makes [fighters] feel a little more comfortable."
What's probably going to happen is the UFC is going to start paying it's top level guys more for exclusive contracts in the UFC while sharing mid level fighters with Strikeforce on non-exclusive contracts. I see both leagues splitting the talent and eventually evening out with exclusive top 5-10 fighters in each league with shared contenders (>10 level guys bouncing back and fourth). Also fighters with names in Asia/Europe not yet in the UFC will possibly consider signing in with Strikeforce to keep their image rights so they can still do commercials/keep their sponsers across seas.
"I'm pretty happy with every aspect of [my Strikeforce contract]," Henderson said. "I'm excited to be able to fight on CBS – that seems like it would be a pretty cool deal – and to be able to bring new fans to the sport, which is what's going to happen with CBS."
The network-television deal Strikeforce has with CBS will undoubtedly expose Henderson to new fans. And Henderson believes he'll be able to do the same for Strikeforce as the organization centers on him as a focus of its U.S. marketing.
"I believe that was their objective by signing me," Henderson said. "They want to make sure that they use me as their marquee guy in the U.S.
Henderson is way better at presenting himself for interviews then Rogers was. He also represents the sport better since he comes off more as an athlete then just a thug (no disrespect to Rogers but he comes from the streets which is evident in the way he talks and presents himself). So I see Strikeforce using Hendo on the talk show circuit once his upcoming fight happens. Hendo does have a pretty good fanbase (American and Asian) thanks to his dominating performances in Pride and the TUF reality show (along with KOing vastly overrated Bisping). The fact that Strikeforce is looking to make Hendo the face of Strikeforce in whatever division he chooses to fight in, makes me believe there's a good chance we might see him in EA MMA, if not in 2010 then hopefully in 2011 as DLC.
Additionally, Henderson thinks Emelianenko would actually be an ideal opponent for him at some point during his new contract. But current middleweight champ Jake Shields and light heavyweight title holder Gegard Mousasi are also on his radar.
"There will be bouncing around, I'm sure, based on the fact that there's a lot of guys that are interesting and big challenges, and they're not all in the same weight class at Strikeforce," Henderson said. "We'll see what happens.
"If I was the only guy over there and would walk through everybody that they had, I wouldn't have gone over. Strikeforce has some guys that are going to challenge me. I don't do this just for the money or whatever. I do it for the challenge. If none of these matchups were going to excite me or give me goosebumps, then I'm not going to do it. I do have goosebumps thinking about pretty much all three of their champions at those weight classes."
I'm glad to see Strikeforce will allow Henderson to fight at what ever weight class he chooses. I'm still annoyed the UFC won't allow Anderson Silva to go to HW or fight at Welterweight, which is a lose for the fans (good business choice on UFC's part). More then likely we'll see a Strikeforce middleweight and LHW champion Henderson in 2010 with a title shot against HW champion Fedor (if Alistair ever fights him) in 2011 and then retirement in 2012.
"[My first Strikeforce fight] will be on the next CBS show, and I'm not sure when that is," Henderson said. "I've still got about four months, probably. We're not exactly sure of the date.
Strikeforce really needed another main card attraction other then Fedor so it doesn't fall prey to the EliteXC's mistake of only marketing one fighter (though Fedor lives up to the hype way better then Silce). It can now alternate between Hendo main card fights and Fedor main card fights.
I'm looking forward to Hendo's time in Strikeforce, I think he should fight in Middleweight just cause I believe the competition to be stiffer then strikeforce's LHW division.
No comments:
Post a Comment