Is it best for Henderson to Head to Strikeforce?

Recent reports have indicated that Dan Henderson and the UFC aren’t real close to coming up with a deal and that Hendo may be on his way to Strikeforce. The Strikeforce signing has been debunked by Dan’s people, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

In considering this possibility, first inclination is that Henderson should really work to come to an agreement with Dana White in order to remain in the UFC. But after a little bit of thought, Strikeforce might not be such a bad deal for Hendo and the promotion should be chomping at the bit for his services.

Strikeforce does not have a deep well of talent and Henderson would be an instant marquee draw against many of the promotion’s current crop of stars. He could fight Gegard Mousasi, Jason Miller, Jake Shields, Cung Le, or a few others that would make interesting match ups. And as crazy as it sounds, maybe he could even fight Fedor Emelianenko. Hendo has fought plenty of bigger guys in his day.

Scott Coker should definitely entertain the idea of giving Henderson what he wants because he is an established star, and for Henderson it elevates him to the big draw (on network TV) for each of his next two or three or four fights. Henderson is much more valuable to Strikeforce than he is to the UFC, and Henderson probably recognizes this. He would get a great deal of promotional backing from Strikeforce. With most likely just a few fights left in his career, this promotional push is very important.

Now in saying all of that, the UFC is the UFC. It is synonymous with the sport and Henderson’s last appearance at UFC 100 was quite successful. Sticking with the promotion might be worth it even if he isn’t getting exactly what he thinks he should up front.

Really, this is a whole lot of conjecture and we’ll just have to wait and see where the chips fall, but oddly enough, no matter what happens I think it will shake out okay for all parties involved.