FanHouse has learned that the UFC is looking to book a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson for the Nov. 14 show at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. As of Thursday afternoon, though, official bout agreements had yet to be finalized.
It looks like Anderson Silva got his wish.
In reality, this is the best possible conclusion to the main event search for UFC 105. The original main event, BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, had to be moved to UFC 107 in order to replace the postponed Jackson/Evans bout. Once that happened, the only real alternatives for a serious main event were:
- Convince Anderson Silva to defend his belt againt Dan Henderson. They offered the fight to Silva back in early August, and he declined. He’s been adamant about not facing either Henderson or Marquardt until they fight each other, and he stuck to his guns.
- Convince Henderson to face Marquardt in a title elimination bout. This wouldn’t be an easy task, however, because Henderson was told before UFC 100 that he would earn a title shot if he beat Michael Bisping. Henderson did his part, knocking Bisping out in spectacular fashion, but Silva threw a wrench into the proceedings by refusing to face Henderson.
The UFC also considered moving Henderson up to face the debuting Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a rematch, but Henderson wasn’t interested.
The truth of the matter is that both Henderson and Marquardt want to fight Anderson Silva. Both men feel they’ve earned it. And you can easily make a case for either of them getting another title shot, because both men are the best of the best in the middleweight division and both are coming off great knockout wins. Henderson has publicly stated his position; Marquardt says all the right things in public, but has privately stated that he wants a shot at the belt.
But Silva sits in the catbird seat. He’s only interested in big fights, and he’s angling for a potential superfight with Randy Couture. If Shogun Rua somehow beats Lyoto Machida next month, you can bet your last dollar that Silva will be seeking a title bout. The one thing he’s not interested in, however, is fighting Dan Henderson or Nate Marquardt in 2009.
And so this is the next best option. We get to crown a definitive middleweight contender, and UFC 105 gets a main event worthy of numbered UFC show status. And perhaps, just perhaps, we’ll get to see Anderson Silva take on Randy Couture at the end of the year.
