For the record, Henderson made over a $1/4-million for his fight with Bisping. Bisping was not a top ranked middleweight at the time of his defeat at the hands of Henderson.
I think this has more to do with Hendo not getting another shot guaranteed or getting some position moving fights @ 205 more than him not getting paid.
I think it's all about the $ for Hendo at this point in his career. This will likely be his last or next-to-last pro contract. He's got to secure his future. If he wanted a title shot all he had to do was beat Marquardt. He didn't want that fight.
Hendo's got plenty of $$$, he lives a very low key life style. He lives on a big ranch in the middle of no-where Temecula, right in the middle of wine country. He's miles away from the main part of the city. I'm sure a lot of it has to deal with the cash, but I think he's a little offended that Bisping was guaranteed a title shot, yet he wasn't.
Good signing, further legitimizes Strikeforce. This only benefits fighters because a young and upcoming guy now would be less hesitant to sign with Strikeforce because they're becoming more legit, I can picture bidding wars for young talent in the future.
Hendo already had two! Beating Hendo makes you a contender. Beating Bisping doesn't. He should take it as a compliment.
He beat Silva in the first round and went away from his game plan in Rd. 2 and lost. I think he deserved a rematch, he beat everyone the UFC put in front of him and before the Bisping/Hendo matchup, it was pretty much assumed by everyone that the winner would get a title shot @ Silva, again. And if you read the interview over @ sherdog with Hendo, he says he was more pissed off that Belfort got a title shot and leapfrogged everyone than he was pissed about fighting Marquardt. He said he would've fought Marquardt, but was pissed that Belfort, someone he dominated, got a shot before BOTH Nate and him. In all honesty, I don't think Dana wanted Hendo to fight Anderson again. Anderson isn't a big draw and hasn't proven he can carry a card by himself and neither is Hendo. Having those two headline a card again wouldn't be as profitable as Dana would've liked.
Anyone know how Strikeforce is doing financially? Can they afford to keep paying big money to star free agents? Are they just desperate for talent? If they're making good money with the CBS deal, fighters who draw big audiences and whatnot then perhaps there could be some bidding wars with the UFC. Seems like Strikeforce just swoops in after Dana has told said FA to fuck off though. What other option does Hendo/Fedor/etc. have? Fighters generally seem to prefer the UFC but Dana seems unwilling to dole out much money for anyone who isn't a huge star. In any case, Strikeforce seems to be gaining some momentum. Fedor and Hendo aren't Lesnar/Lidell-esque draws but they've got pretty formidable and loyal fanbases. Carano draws a lot of people as well right? Nick Diaz is apparently coming back, Cung Le is coming back. Le, Shields, Diaz, or Lawler could all fight Hendo. Not to mention Moussassi or Fedor. Seems like Strikeforce is getting stronger thanks to the UFC's elimination of the rest of the competition. It may never be a UFC-level company but it could do pretty well as a secondary-but-still-major MMA production.
