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BENT: Dan Henderson Should Not Fight Nate Marquardt......Yet
Sep 3, 2009 - 4:19:53 PM BENT: Dan Henderson Should Not Fight Nate Marquardt......Yet

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Dan Henderson is right for not wanting to fight Nate Marquardt. Period. End of discussion. Henderson deserves the next title shot and he should not have to once again fight someone else for the right. He had to fight Rich Franklin for the right to coach on 'The Ultimate Fighter' in order to get the chance to fight Michael Bisping for a title shot. Henderson defeated Franklin, he took the coaching gig, faced and knocked out Bisping and now should be next in line.

Now, all of a sudden it's as if none of the other stipulations matter and everyone is talking up a Marquardt-Henderson bout. Yes, Nate Marquardt would deserve a shot at Dan Henderson, but Henderson should not have to put his guaranteed shot at the title on the line and give Marquardt the opportunity. Dana White had even said as much that the winner of Bisping-Henderson would get the next crack, and you can bet your ass that if Bisping had won that they would already be lining up the big U.K. show with that main event as we speak. Suddenly, Dan Henderson gets the job done and Dana White and company don't really want him getting the shot.

Nate Marquardt lost to Anderson Silva, and so too did Dan Henderson, but Henderson put up a lot better fight than Marquardt did. In fact, if anyone in the UFC deserves a rematch with Silva it would be Henderson based solely on the fact that Dan put up more of a challenge than anyone else. Add to this the fact that Henderson is a legend in the sport and it should be a lock to give him the rematch and go ahead with the fight already.

Dan Henderson has let it be known that he has zero interest in fighting Marquardt and I agree with him. This is a fight he does not need and one he should not take because he was promised a title shot for what he has already accomplished.

If I tell you to clean my house for two hundred dollars, would it be fair of me to come home and tell you that the deal still holds except you now have to clean my cars and clean up the flower beds in the front yard?

No.

You would be right in refusing to do the extra work and in demanding what was rightfully yours, that which we had agreed upon. No one would say that you were being lazy or avoiding something but rather that you did what you needed to do and expected to be rewarded in a just manner.

Henderson is not avoiding Marquardt. My money says you don't want to fight a pissed off Dan Henderson and that the end result would be Marquardt on the receiving end of one of those "extra" shots when all is said and done. Marquardt has upped his game and has become a better fighter, and the win over Maia is a huge win, but Henderson was here first and deserves to fight for the title now. Marquardt can be next in line, and if it is meant to be, he will eventually face Henderson down the road.

Henderson vs. Silva is not the sexiest of bouts to put at the top of a card, and this is because Henderson is a legend but not exactly a draw. Fans pissed all over the prospect Henderson vs. Franklin II and we now have Franklin vs. Belfort coming up because of the lack of interest in that fight. For one, we had already seen the two fight in a lackluster bout and secondly, it wasn't as if fans were camping out for Hendo as they would for GSP, Lesnar or Liddell. Henderson has put wins on his record and racked up titles but he has never been responsible for putting butts into the seats.

That's exactly why Dana White seems intent on making Dan Henderson work and work for this title shot while continuing to place hurdle after hurdle in front of him. It's completely wrong.

This is a sport. Sometimes the most lackluster athletes will win, and maybe they aren't going to draw in the buyrates that bigger names would, but the fact of the matter is that this isn't pro wrestling and you have to go with what you've got.

Do you think the NFL wanted the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl last season?

No.

Did the NFL step in and demand that they play the Eagles again? You know, because they would have rather had Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in a "Battle of Pennyslvania"?

No.

Arizona won, fair and square, and they got their crack at the title. They also played some excellent football and damned near won it all. The NFL is more than happy with the results as this was one of the most exciting Super Bowl games in recent history.

Dan Henderson won, fair and square and he deserves his rematch. If he isn't going to get it he will be competing at light heavyweight. Dana White needs to do what is right and just accept that Henderson won and there will be no Bisping vs. Silva in the U.K. and deal with it in a professional sports manner and not in a pro wrestling one.

Planning ahead for shows never works unless you are writing the results, and that is all there is to it. Plain and simple, Shane Carwin could pull off the upset and defeat Brock Lesnar in November and then a lot of the UFC marketing muscle and future plans will be compromised. That's just the way this game works. Anyone can win on any given day inside of the Octagon, and it is because everyone at this level is that damned good. So, you take the winners of bouts and promote them as ass-kickers who just toppled your top fighters and you move on, just as the NFL would have if the Arizona Cardinals would have won the Super Bowl.

I don't know if Dan Henderson can beat Anderson Silva. All I do know is that he shouldn't have to face Nate Marquardt in order for us to find out.