Former PRIDE and UFC star Dan Henderson was expected to do great things back in April when he made his much-ballyhooed debut under the Strikeforce banner against Jake Shields in the main event of "Saturday Night Fights" on CBS.
And while Shields was counting the days until his promotion release, he obviously was in no hurry to surrender his 185-pound title.
"Hendo" battered the Cesar Gracie disciple en route to a dominant first round in their middleweight championship fight. Shields recovered between rounds and did some dominating of his own, controlling Henderson with a relentless wrestling attack and suffocating top game.
Following his unanimous decision defeat, "Dangerous Dan," who turns 40 this August, commented on his difficulty in making the 185-pound weight limit.
And according to recent comments from Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, there may not be much weight to cut in his next appearance, currently under consideration for the 205-pound weight class in a rematch against Renato Sobral.
From Coker, courtesy of MMA Weekly:
"Dan I believe when I talked to him over the weekend, I talked to Jordan, his manager, and they said they probably want to fight at 205 instead of 185. (They) felt that the weight cut was too much, and Dan would welcome to fight Babalu again, Gegard Mousasi, for a 205-pound contender's bout. I don't think you'll see Dan in the 185-pound tournament, although stranger things have happened in MMA, right? We haven't finalized it, but I would think the top two guys, Babalu and Gegard, depends on what happens with Gegard, but I think a fight between Babalu and Dan is something we might pursue in the very near future."
Henderson narrowly beat the Brazilian under the RINGS banner way back in February 2000. And "Babalu" wants a chance to prove that ten years later, he is the better fighter.
Sobral wasted little time in calling Henderson out following his unanimous decision win over "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler back on June 16 in Los Angeles. It was his first win under the Strikeforce banner since coughing up the light heavyweight title to Gegard Mousasi last August.
While nothing is official at this time, few "names" outside of Sobral and Mousasi are available for Henderson. "The Dreamcatcher" is booked for the DREAM light heavyweight tournament on July 10 and may be locked up for the remainder of the year if he successful overseas.
That could pave the way for Henderson vs. Sobral in late summer or early fall.
Stay tuned.
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