Where Go Hendo?
So MMAJunkie reported that Dana White claimed negotiations with Dan Henderson had reached a standstill due to Henderson’s wanting to be the highest paid fighter in the UFC:
“We’re at a stalemate right now,” White said. “The money that [Henderson] is asking for would make him by far the highest-paid guy in the UFC.”
White initially told Yahoo! Sports less than a week ago that his negotiations with Henderson had failed and that “Hollywood” was close to signing with Strikeforce. Henderson then refuted those claims with several media outlets, insisting his contact with Strikeforce had simply been introductory in nature.
Loretta Hunt of Sherdog.com then reported that Henderson’s camp denied that Henderson was demanding that kind of money during negotiations:
Aaron Crecy, Henderson’s business partner and manager who has been privy to all offers circulated between the two parties, reiterated similar sentiments regarding White’s contract claims.
“Contracts are confidential, so that statement’s impossible to prove or disprove,” said Crecy. “However, we have done our due diligence. We certainly don’t believe that to be the case. Dan understands and we have a certain belief on where he stands in the hierarchy. Certainly there are champions and former UFC champions that deserve to be paid more than Dan.”
Payout Perspective:
MMAPayout has discussed why Dan Henderson’s negotiating tactics were unlikely to lead to a lucrative new contract with UFC, despite his being at least temporarily the hottest free agent in Mixed Martial Arts.
Now we’re receiving seemingly contradictory reports relating to the contract negotiations themselves: Dana White makes the claim that Henderson wants to be “by far” the highest paid fighter in UFC, and Henderson’s camp dismisses it as the absurdity it would seem to be.
I’m not certain that the claims are entirely inconsistent. What we’re hearing is that the sticking point in the negotiations is Henderson’s demand for a seven figure signing bonus, as Henderson seems to believe (reasonably) that this is his last chance to make big money in the business.
I believe it’s possible that Henderson is requesting the largest signing bonus in UFC, which, in combination with his base pay, could from one perspective make him the highest paid fighter in UFC. This point of view, however, discounts the millions of dollars made by fighters whose contracts are structured to provide them shares of ppv revenue (providing the ppv reaches a certain number of buys).
Even if Henderson were to be given a share of ppv revenue, he’s never proven to be a huge draw, and I’d say it’s impossible that, if granted, his demands would make him UFC’s highest paid fighter. I’m not even going to research this one, I’ll tell you who it is in 2009 (and probably going forward into the future): Brock Lesnar.
Unfortunately by stating early in negotiations that he had no desire to work for Strikeforce, Henderson gave away all leverage in his negotiations with UFC, and Dana White seems to believe Henderson will eventually come around and will agree to what the UFC is offering him, with maybe a small concession from the promotional juggernaut to let Dan save face.
And I’d bet more money than I’d be willing to place — with even odds – on Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 that Dana White is 100% correct.