(Video courtesy YouTube/MMA:30)
Dan Henderson says the toughest task he will face in his Saturday night showdown with Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields won’t be avoiding the dangerous Cesar Gracie black belt’s submissions; it will be keeping the crowd and viewers watching on CBS from falling asleep.
Dan Henderson says the toughest task he will face in his Saturday night showdown with Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields won’t be avoiding the dangerous Cesar Gracie black belt’s submissions; it will be keeping the crowd and viewers watching on CBS from falling asleep.
The 39-year-old former concurrent dual-weight class PRIDE champion says that he will do his damnedest to make the fight as entertaining as he did his past tilts, but hints that fans might want to take the precaution of downing a few Red Bulls or cups of coffee prior to the title fight, just in case.
"The biggest challenge of this fight is to still make it exciting and to be aggressive enough and basically not be boring. It’s tough to do when all a guy wants to do is take you down, which is probably what’s going to happen in this fight."
Win or lose, Shields will likely jump ship from Strikeforce to test the perceivably more lucrative and competitive UFC waters, which, according to Henderson are murkier than they seem from on the outside looking in.
"I just felt that the UFC just kind of undervalued me for what I thought I was and Strikeforce didn’t. At the UFC I was just another little worker bee. They didn’t really take care of their fighters real well. I think that I had a lot more opportunity to get a lot more exposure here and still have quality guys to fight. That was a big concern of mine. I didn’t want to come somewhere and be a big fish in a small pond. I wanted to make sure I had big challenges for my fights. Jake Shields is definitely a big challenge. Beyond that, they’ve got some good fighters in there now and they’re just moving upward."
Come on, Hendo. Zuffa gave you a sweet Range Rover, a title shot in your second UFC fight after losing your first and a team of American ringers for TUF 9. How much more do you need?
Apparently, a lot.
Word on the street is, besides a hefty signing incentive, substantial per-fight salary and performance bonus structure, part of Henderson’s deal with the CBS affiliated promotion saw him take ownership of a majority stake in The Ghost Whisperer.
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Lesson 1- Drive the contracted price of their prime talent past the equilibrium payscale required to turn profit off advertising and live gate fees: How much do you think Hendo makes? How about Fedor (probably more than the $250 grand they claim), Overromeo, Carano, or any of the other lucky few with decent enough management to make Coker suck their dicks (even Hieron makes $50 g's for fighting on the undercard). For some inexplicable reason Shamrock banked $370 g's in defeat against Diaz (approx. $40 g's in victory, apparently in Stockton they fight for respect and not feddy scratch yung), and as much as I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Glamrock slam the career out of Zinoviev at UFC16, if it don't make dollars it don't make cents. The disclosed payroll for this relatively entertainingo jambalaya (SF Diaz-Hamhock, for one example, its too easy) of mostly nonsensical action was close to $650,000 and the gate was only $750,000. Balancing undisclosed pay against other undisclosed assets, it is hard to see SF not becoming afflicted with a certain financial disease. The UFC did not become the UFC in one or two years. If all they have to do is counter bid Strikefarce's contracts up to a quarter mil and up for prime talent, SF will go broke just trying to put on shows. Remember, the janitor still has to get paid- or maybe Spamcrock mops that shit down after hours- he must be getting paid $400 grand a fight for something. Furthermore they don't pay a lot of their prime talent shit (Santos makes about $20-25 g's/ fight, Carano got $125 grand for losing her strap, etc. etc.) Now I am no MMAth PhD or professional fight promoter, but I did used to turn me a respectable profit hustlang dem p's from coast to coast and I can balance a balance sheet. Combine all of this bullshit with nonsensical matchmaking and relegating two tirds of signed prospects to the dark and it doesn't take much imagination to see where this is headed. Enjoy watching the castoffs and "others" mix it up in some quality record-padding while it lasts....