Dan Henderson appears to be close to calling Strikeforce his new home. UFC President Dana White told Yahoo! Sports that Henderson has signed with Strikeforce, declining the offer presented to him by the UFC last month.
“I guarantee you 1,000 percent that Dan Henderson is signed by Strikeforce,” White said earlier this week.
However, two key figures seem to disagree with the brash President - Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and Henderson himself.
“I guess the UFC made an offer and put a deadline on it,” Coker stated. "They turned it down and were calling to talk to me, but I told him I have this huge fight and there’s a tremendous amount going on and I couldn’t really deal with it at this point."
If Henderson were to sign with Strikeforce, he would be making the move following a two-year stint with the UFC. He most recently defeated the likes of former UFC middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin and The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner Michael Bisping. Coker admits to wanting the former PRIDE champion on his roster.
“He’s a tough, aggressive, fun guy to watch. Who wouldn’t want a guy like that?,” Coker asked. “Of course we do, and that’s why we’ve spoken with them.
“Honestly, though, we don’t have a deal with him yet," he admitted. "I’ve been up to my eyeballs working on this fight (Fedor vs. Rogers) and I just haven’t had time to deal with that yet.”
Dan Henderson, who is in Chicago this weekend to corner Sokoudjou in his bout against Gegard Mousasi, confirmed Coker's statement, telling FanHouse on Friday that he is still a free agent. He noted that he will talk to Strikeforce officials about a deal this weekend, but he has not closed the door on re-signing with the UFC.
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