UFC 105 may have found its main event.FanHouse has learned that the UFC is looking to book a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson for the Nov. 14 show at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. As of Thursday afternoon, though, official bout agreements had yet to be finalized.
The winner of this potential bout would likely receive another title shot against current middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Marquardt was last seen knocking out Demian Maia at UFC 102 in just 21 seconds, while Henderson defeated Michael Bisping via second-round knockout at UFC 100 in July.
Despite the fact that both men have already suffered losses to Silva in the past, they are clearly the top two contenders in the UFC's middleweight division. Marquardt lost to Silva via TKO at UFC 73 in July 2007. Since then, he has won four of five fights. Meanwhile, Henderson lost to Silva at UFC 82 via rear-naked choke submission. He has since rebounded to win his last three fights in a row.
MMA Bay first reported the possibility of the bout on Tuesday.
One of the potential holdups could be Henderson's current contract status with the UFC. Earlier this week, SI.com MMA writer Josh Gross tweeted that Henderson was a free agent and contract negotiations were characterized as "slow."
Other match-ups expected for the event include Bisping vs. Denis Kang, Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim and James Wilks vs. Matt Brown. UFC 105 is scheduled to air via tape delay in the United States on Spike TV.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-10-2009 @ 5:38PM
kevin said...
Main Event? This fight to me is Co-main event at best now if it was Heno/Silva or Marquardt/silva then yea but ufc 105 deffinatly will be weak if this is the main event jusst my opinion
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9-10-2009 @ 5:53PM
RJ said...
This is a free card on Spike. The last two numbered UFC events from the UK free on Spike were Sanchez/Stevenson and Bisping/Leben.
I'd say this is a better main event than either of those other two fights. I wouldn't be complaining.
9-10-2009 @ 5:51PM
Piker said...
what do you mean co-mainer at best dude have you seen the striking skills of Nate “the great" marquardt and Dan “hollywood" Henderson that is an awesome fight but, I still think Hendo needs to fight for the belt I think he has the best chance.
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9-10-2009 @ 7:06PM
gillygodfried said...
i was on ufc website and it looked like they got bisbing vs kang for a main event comming up, to me thats a terrible main event, hopefully its just a fight on that card
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9-10-2009 @ 8:32PM
fallschirmjagerb said...
thats such crap, how many more guys does henderson have to fight before a title match. he should fight for the belt
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9-10-2009 @ 9:37PM
richardbikle said...
hendo should be fighting for the title.
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9-10-2009 @ 10:02PM
M13 said...
I'm very surprised by this. It's probably because the UFC needed these two to enhance the card.
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9-11-2009 @ 8:19AM
Eric said...
Personally I'd rather see this fight anyway ... Anderson hasn't been exciting at 185 and his victories over hand picked opponents at 205 don't impress me at all.
That being said, I hope Hendo wins because he has a much better chance against the Spider IMO.
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9-11-2009 @ 9:20AM
Joe said...
I think both of these guys deserve a title shot. I know that they both lost to Silva in the past but who else is good enough at 185 to fight the oversized 6'2" Silva. Most fighters ay 185 don't have a chance against Silva because he usually has a sizable reach advantage over his opponents. Henderson was suppose to fight Silva next but Silva and his manager went crying to Dana White, saying that Henderson hasn't done enough to deserve a rematch. The meeting probably went something like this:
Silva: "Dana you know I want to be recognized as the pound for pound best in the world and so do you".
Dana: "Yes that is true and that is why I fixed a fight between you and Forrest and had Griffin act like he was knocked out. But that mother f@*#!* Griifin about gave it away when he took off out of the building like that. He was supposed to be knocked out."
Silva: "You mean that the haymaker I threw didn't really knock him out but I just knocked my little sister out with that punch a few days ago".
Dana:"Well Anderson, enough about that fight, we were thinking your next fight will be with Dan Henderson. I told him after he knocked out Bisping that he had the next shot against you."
Silva: But Dana I already beat him once. He really took it to me that first round and made me look beatable and it wouldn't be easy to beat him again."
Dana: "Yeah that is a fight that a lot of fans remember and they want to see that fight again".
Silva: "But Dana don't you want me to be the best pound for pound guy in the world. Let's put this fight off for a while so Henderson will be in his 40's so I can have a better chance of destroying him".
Dana: "OK Silva I will make him fight Marquardt next because they both look really good right now and I wouldn't want you to have to fight both of them because one of them might give you a good fight and then you wouldn't look as dominate. You didn't look too good against Cote and Leites and I'm glad they are out of the picture right now because we can't have you looking bad again. We can't have fans booing you again, it makes the UFC look bad."
Silva: "Thank you Dana."
Dana: "Don't mention it. I have to make you look like the pound for pound best in the world, especially since I couldn't sign that f*!@ing Fedor. After he refused to sign with the UFC I had to pay Griffin to fall against you and make you look better than Fedor."
This is my guess as to what might have been said. I'm not saying it's fact and to all you Silva lovers, I know he could kick my ass and you don't have to remind me.
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9-11-2009 @ 2:40PM
Drayshon said...
Hey I bet anderson silva would kick your ass lol.
9-12-2009 @ 12:25AM
PIT BULL CAFE said...
Hendo needs to fight Silva now !! He deserves it coming off a great knock out he is on a high peak .He was promised the title shot he deserves it he aint getting any younger he needs to get it on now and not have to game test himself any further. NOW IS THE TIME FOR HENDO TO FIGHT SILVA !!!
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