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I like Dan, I think he’s a hell of a fighter and no doubt a future hall of famer. But when he’s zeroing in on 40 years old and hasn’t exactly set the UFC on fire since his return, I just hope he doesn’t over price himself while negotiating his new contract. His only stellar performance since his return was against a top 20 opponent in Michael Bisping.

His insistance to fight Silva asap is what’s made him one of the best ever, always wanting to fight the best. While his reputation and hall of fame career warrants a rematch with Anderson, I really don’t see anything changing if the 2 meet for a second time. Fighting Marquardt is the only definitive way to earn the second go around with the Spider.

Should they not fight one another, then rematches with the best p4p fighter on the planet would be lucky to make the main card, these matches just wouldn’t make any sense. The only other fighter that would generate a huge gate against Silva (for the moment), is if Belfort destroys Franklin and then continues his move down to middleweight. Beating “Ace” would probably secure the “Phenom” a date with destiny, which would be a hell of a fight and I would much rather see that then either Henderson or Marquardt, regardless who wins if they do fight each other. IMHO

@andrew –

Age will always play a factor in any sport when you’re negotiating for a new contract, and if you don’t know that, then you shouldn’t be posting on that subject! I don’t in anyway mean that as an insult to you, so do not take it as such, but when you’re paying out millions of dollars, you have to be realistic in if you’ll get the returns out of (in this case) the fighter.

Yes, you’re correct in saying Dan is still fighting at the top level, however, just like everyone else (Liddell, Hughes, Wanderlei, ect), one day he’s just not going to be that same guy who’s been competing at that level for the last 13 or 14 years, it’s just basic physiology.

I’ll recap his arrival back into the UFC for you, his 1st fight against Rampage was a good action packed fight, but it was still a unanimous decision loss (a split decision would be considered close, as you say). His second fight against Silva he was submitted, however he did win the 1st round by keeping Silva on the ground, but didn’t do any damage whatsoever. Yes, he’s the only one that did good against the spider, but it was only “ONE” round and no damage to him, after which Anderson woke up, came out and completely dominated and submitted him in the second round. His 3rd fight he did to Palhares what Bisping did to him and that was pretty much stay away and not engage except from the outside when possible. While Bisping has taken alot of shit for staying away (running) from Dan, Hendo did the exact same thing against Palhares. It was a very boring fight to say the least, at which the crowd was booing, and even Henderson acknowledged as much at the end of the fight. Then came his razor thin “split” decision over Franklin, at which people were split on who won that fight, thats why Dana was having them fight again, but nobody cared for the rematch, so it was scrapped. Of course, Silva destroyed Franklin twice. Last but not least, he ko’ed Bisping, who wasn’t even a top 10 fighter in the world rankings. Also, by you mentioning his losses to Rampage and Silva, what could you possibly be referencing . . . . a loss is a loss, it doesn’t matter what happens in the fight.

The bottom line is that this isn’t rocket science, if Henderson vs Silva II was a big fight, the UFC would no doubt make it happen. Nobody is terribly interested in seeing this fight again, because most people don’t feel the results are gonna be any different, including myself. Yes, Dan is primed for another title shot, but more off of reputation rather than what he’s done lately, I don’t think I can be any clearer on his 2nd stint in the UFC. The only way to make it into a big anticipated fight is if he gets past Marquardt spectacularly, because he too has equally done enough to get another shot. They both deserve shots at Silva, but you can’t sell a fight that nobody wants to see and that’s what the UFC does, they put on fights that most fans want to see, also that’s why they don’t have a ranking system.

Maybe you misunderstood me when I was talking about age, I could care less how old any fighter is (Couture, Liddell, hell George Foreman for that matter), as long as they can perform (with their safety & health in consideration), I’m all for it, all I’m saying is that he may think he’s worth more than the UFC thinks he’s worth at his current age and all the wars he’s been through.