Dana White: Dan Henderson Is Asking for An 'Obscene' Amount of Money

Posted Oct 20, 2009 5:50PM By Ray Hui (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

Negotiations between the UFC and Dan Henderson are more than stalled, they are apparently "done."

"You never know what's going to happen, we'll see what happens in time," UFC president Dana White told Raw Vegas on Saturday. "But as of right now, yeah, negotiations are done."

White says he holds no ill will towards the Team Quest fighter but simply could not reach a new agreement with Henderson, whose contract with the organization expired with his win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in July.

"I have a great relationship with him but he was looking for an obscene amount of money," White said.

At 39 years of age, and at the height of his popularity for the wild knockout over Bisping, Henderson is probably looking at his last big lucrative contract. The former PRIDE double champion could continue serving as a contender in the UFC's middleweight and light heavyweight divisions or turn his drawing power towards benefiting Strikeforce and its deal with CBS.

Friday's Yahoo! Sports report said that Henderson landing with Strikeforce was imminent, but FanHouse learned from Henderson's camp that any talks between the two have been introductory.

The questions now is if this is all a tactic for White to go public with the failed negotiations to encourage Henderson to lower his price, and if not, is Strikeforce willing to sign Henderson under his allegedly high asking price.

White suggests, as a person in his position would, that Strikeforce would be overpaying if it were to sign Henderson.

"If they can afford to sign Dan Henderson, and I couldn't, what's that tell you?" White asked.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-20-2009 @ 7:58PM

Guitar God!!!!!! said...

Typical greedy F-ing UFC. Hendo deserves the green!!!

10-20-2009 @ 8:52PM

jimberny said...

I have known Danny since the tenth grade and know that Dana has gotten away with paying him much less than he deserves since he signed, and did not complain, just improved. I knew it was coming when they allowed that sissy Anderson to dictate the next fight, not with him because he knows Danny will beat him. Go Strikeforce!!

10-20-2009 @ 9:05PM

itsmejwb said...

your loss Dana

10-21-2009 @ 9:25AM

Eric said...

Dan doesn't want to fight in SF ... why would he. Sure he wants the money, but he is a competitor deep down. He needs to fight in the UFC to feed that competitive itch.

Why do people think Dana is in charge of the negotiations ... he only holds 10% interest in the UFC, not to mention that those negotiations aren't his job. The Dana bashing is SERIOUSLY getting old.

10-21-2009 @ 12:27PM

richardbikle said...

dana's made many millions to be the frititas moving target, just lets you know what kind of people the frititas are to have dana, a person of low character, to be their front man.

the ufc could well afford to pay Dan something close to what he's worth, but being fair to one fighter would mean they need to be fair to other fighters, and maybe they'd only make $150 Million instead of $200 Million.

Hendo would beat silva in a rematch.

10-21-2009 @ 12:49PM

MidnghtRider21 said...

Hendo deserves what hes asking for, he is a great fighter. Dan is generally the number two ranked Middleweight in the world and I will watch his fights wherever he goes. He is leaving as the #1 contender in my eyes at 185.

10-21-2009 @ 1:34PM

kevin said...

Richard the reason that dana is the front man is because hes the reason that the fertitas even bought the ufc to begin wit

10-21-2009 @ 5:10PM

i know, but that doesnt change danas character or frititas using him as the front man.
if you know that much then you know the frititas are guided by their attorneys, accountants, and the common thread they have with dana - complete glutenous greed.

10-21-2009 @ 2:05PM

neozoo said...

guys, guys, this is all about business. plain and simple
business 101: negotiations
if someone is willing to pay what you are asking, then you have a buyer, period.

how can any of you make any kind of judgement one way or the other?
are you privy to the numbers involved?
are you in, on who has what type of business model?

if hendo doesn't get any takers on his asking price.....is it too high?

and if sf does sign him, will it be the same price as what he was asking from the ufc?

i think he would be a great addition for sf.
i also believe at this point in his career, he brings more to the table to sf than he does to resigning with the ufc.

eventhough i would love to see hendo beat silva in a rematch, i personally, don't see that happening. i saw their first fight one way and rich and others saw it another (hendo controlling round one and just gassed).
to me, silva dominated hendo.
it's all just pov's.

same with business negotiations.

look, if sf does pay and is successful as a result
then that could be great for the fighters, as ufc will have to pay more to keep guys.
however, if sf is not successful, then what does that say....perhaps, more numbers are invovled than we know and can see.
costs, expenses, as well as gross numbers.

like i've said before, until someone steps up and successfully pays more than the ufc consistantly, how can you intelligently pass judgement.

last point in regards to hendo's respective worth to each organization.....
a few years ago the miami dolphins declined on paying wes welker 6plus mil a year.
as a dolfan, i am honest enough to know the fins didn't have the system to utilize welker.
so it was not unwise for them to let him go.
now, did the patriots overpay?
absolutely not.
welker is a great and perfect fit for belicik.

oh well, it'll be interesting to see how this one unfolds.