Hendo: UFC offer a cut of ‘quite a bit more’ than 50%
“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I was insulted,” said Dan Henderson. “I don’t take it personally, but it was a lot lower than I expected.”
Dan Henderson started fighting in 1997, in Brazil. His third fight was in the UFC, earning decisions over Carlos Newton and Alan Goes, in one night. He has fought the best in the world ever since. But Henderson is on a three-fight losing streak, dropping split decisions to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, followed by a crushing first round KO at the hands and feet of Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 32 in November.
At 43, Henderson holds one of the great records in the sport’s history, across 17 years, and is at an appropriate point to retire, if he wants to. But he doesn’t want to. Hendo said recently he wants three or four more fights, over the next two years, and in the UFC.
The UFC generally signs notable fighters to a new contract before the expiration of the old one. However, Henderson, who made a flat $250,000 per fight, waited until after the contract expired to negotiate a new one. A win over the surging Vitor Belfort would have put Henderson in a quite strong negotiating position.
The loss puts him in a weak negotiating position, although there are still a number of exciting possibilities, including rematches with Wanderlei Silva and Shogun Rua.
Henderson appeared on the latest edition of The MMA Hour, with Arield Helwani, and discussed the current contract negotiation. He said he felt the offer at present was not fair.
“I was fairly surprised that it’s as far away as what I thought I fair offer would have been,” said Henderson. “I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I was insulted, but I know what they’re trying to accomplish and trying to get everybody for as cheap as they can. That’s what they like to do. I don’t take it personally, but it was a lot lower than I expected.
“What I was asking for is a decent pay cut from what I was making, which I thought was fair.”
Henderson was asked if the offer was a 50% cut from his current contract?
“I think that they’re trying to slash it quit a bit more than that,” said Henderson. “So, I just feel that that’s not realistic from where it should be. But we’re working on it.”
“I’m pretty sure we’ll get it figured out in the next week or two.”
“I think they want me to come back. I don’t want to go anywhere else, it’s not even in my mind right now and I don’t think they want me to go anywhere else either. It’s just something where we’re a little far apart, and we need to sit down and get it hashed out.”
“I think, from what I’ve been hearing they’re trying to lower everyone’s purses win or lose, just because pay-per-view numbers aren’t as high as they used to be,” he said. “They are having a lot more shows, a lot more pay-per-views, a lot more free cards, so obviously they’re going to do less PPVs when they’re offering so many more cards and shows. It’s just a little too watered down to get as many numbers as they used to on every pay-per-view card.”
If Henderson and the UFC fail to come to terms, the fighter says he will not retire. If they do come to terms, he said he could return at lightheavyweight or middleweight, ideally in April or May.