Former UFC middleweight Dan Henderson signed a four-fight, 16-month deal with Strikeforce on Saturday. Aaron Crecy, the fighter’s business partner and manager, confirmed that the deal has been inked but would not divulge any further specifics of the agreement.
Henderson had been in negotiations with both the UFC and Strikeforce since his UFC contract expired this fall. “Dan chose to sign with Strikeforce after careful consideration,” Crecy told Sherdog.com via e-mail on Monday. “He approached the process with an open mind, and over the course of the past couple months became increasingly impressed with the Strikeforce organization. It was not a decision that Dan took lightly.”
Henderson could debut for Strikeforce as early as April on a tentatively planned CBS event, Sherdog.com has learned, and might face the promotion’s middleweight champion, Jake Shields, right out of the gate. Henderson, who also fights at light heavyweight, is being eyed for matchups against Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and the world’s No. 1 heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, said a source with knowledge of the deal. “Dan has always been motivated by the challenge of competing above his natural weight class, and he would certainly be honored to square off with Fedor at some point,” said Crecy. Henderson, who is Sherdog.com’s No. 3 ranked middleweight, and the UFC had stalemated on a new five-fight agreement since late July, following the two-time Olympic wrestler’s second-round knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100. (Henderson earned $350,000 for the win, which included a $100,000 performance bonus from the promotion.)
Henderson was first announced to rematch Rich Franklin at UFC 103 last September in Dallas, though he was later replaced by Vitor Belfort as the 39-year-old California native’s renegotiations continued. During a July 31 teleconference call, UFC President Dana White said Henderson was “next in line” to challenge middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva in a rematch of their March 2008 bout at UFC 82. However, the bout would never come to fruition. Henderson met face-to-face with UFC owners Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta at the end of September in Las Vegas, but could not hash out a new contract.
In November, Strikeforce joined the negotiation table after Henderson’s two-month non-compete period had expired with the UFC. Unlike other standard UFC contracts, Henderson’s did not include a matching period in which the UFC could review and match outside offers, said the source.
Source: sherdog.com
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