Nate offered Hendo at UFC 105

http://mmabay.co.uk/Story%2002598.html

Its been confirmed that Nate Marquardt has been offered a number 1 contenders fight with Dan Henderson in England... The Source said That the Lil Nog vs Hendo fight was Less Likely...

Interesting news, Dan said that if he didnt get Anderson straight away he would move back up to 205lbs. So Will it all be down to Hendo? After all UFC cant make him sign to fight Nate?

I think the ball is totally in Hendos court. Fight Nate at 185lbs and get a shot after? Or fight Nog at 205.. an maby not get a shot straight away? Nog already holds a win over Hendo so will he want to avenge this or will he have second thoughts about taking on a bigger man who has aleady beat him?

I dont think Hendo is one to back out of a tough fight and but I dont think avenging a career loss is as improtant than getting a shot and im sure in most peoples eyes Nate is the bigger fight not just because its a number 1 contenders match but Nate is a bigger name in the US... Most Casual fans will think Big Nog has suddenly cut more weight and his ears have cleared up!

I say were seeing Nate vs Hendo at UFC 105. Itd be a great card with all these 3 on it no matter who fights who anyway.

To be honest i'd rather see Hendo Vs Nate, to see how much nate has progressed, and decide a no1 contender. For Hendo i think it's a much better move too as i think he'd struggle to get a title shot at LHW. Better to try and get another shot at Silva, although i'm not sure he'd have too much chance either....!

Personally i think this all stinks Nate gets offered Henderson now Anderson doesn't need surgery i'm starting to think Ed Soars..sorry Anderson is cherry picking his last 3 fights what and who did Leites & Cote beat to get their shots !

Who is Anderson going to fight in the mean time old Chuck, Jardine or any other LHW with a dodgy chin to make him look good personally I'd give him the winner of Lesnar vs Carwin Ed will probably run a mile

I prefer Hendo at 185 these days. Marquardt would be a great fight with the form he's in right now.

For me its fair to have Nate face Henderson, Silva has already beaten both and quickly. Its not like it was a close decision or anything, Silva won both with ease. I really think Nate can beat Henderson, his striking is better and he is also a very good grappler, Hendo won't be able to just lay on Nate or he will get subbed. Henderson won't outclass Nate on the feet like he did to Bisping or even Palaheres. It will be hard for Nate to finish Hendo, although he could sub him, but I think he can outpoint Henderson on the feet. I hope, although I doubt, this is a 5 round fight. If it is, the fight is certainly in Nate's corner.

tickets on sale this weekend to 105..

anyone goin?

If it has Hendo/Nate, and Lil Nog debut, AND the tickets are reasonable then i will consider it.

I think fighting Nate would be the smart option for Dan, if he wins he gets a title shot and another big name on his record, if he fights lil Nog, i think a) he will probably lose, b) Nate will get the shot at Anderson and c) even winning 4 back to back he still wont be too close to a shot at Machida.

Maybe Silva should fight both at once then he might get a bit of respect off some people who seem to think he can do no right.

i would be happy if he agreed to fight either personally but he isnt doing that even.

He has already beaten both very convincingly.

I have no desire to see him fight either again.

Well maybe Nate as he has undoubtedly improved but I would much rather he moved to 205.

Fedor fought Nog 3 times, GSP fought hughes again after he beat him, if Anderson wants to be the best he has to defend the belt or jump weight and vacate the belt. Hendo was winning the fight until his cardio ran out btw, and Nate screwed up big time the first fight and he is much better now.

And Tito fought Ken 3 times just to make the point

I totally agree he needs to start beating the best again to underline his stature.

So Fedor fought Nog 3 times does that mean Silva should do the same? GSP fought Hughes a 3rd time because they were 1-1 in their head to head.

I don't agree that Henderson was winning the fight. He did win the first round without even coming remotely close to doing any damage. He simply lay on top of Silva for about 3 minutes but still that was enough to win the round. Silva was winning the second round easily leading to the submission.

I completely agree that Nate has improved a lot but I would still much rather see Silva fighting much bigger fights at 205.

And Tito fought Ken 3 times just to make the point

what was the point of fights 2 and 3?

Yeah that was tongue in cheek Raiden......
probably the most pointless trilogy ever.

apologies I should have known-especially with the smilie face

Silva is willing to defend his title, he just wants a proper contender. Why should he want to defend it against guys he beat quickly? Thing is, Travis Lutter won the first round against Silva before getting subbed and Cote arguably won the second against Silva. Cote never legitmily lost, should he get a rematch. Silva should defend the title but it needs to be against a real contender. A rematch with the Nate/Hendo winner won't be Ortiz-Shamrock like, it will be a real test for Silva. The first one in a long time.

No snags Raiden, and quinsfan I agree that the winner of Hendo/Marquardt should get another crack at Silva. Nate has looked increasingly solid recently, and Hendo seems to have found another gear since the Franklin fight.

I don't really believe in rematches for the sake of rematches. I believe that the champ should face the best opposition, whether that happens to be a previous opponent who has improved, or someone different, or just the same guy over and over if there are only a couple of realistic challengers.

The Cote situation is different for a couple of reasons;

a) im a fan of patrick, but he was barely top 10 at the time of the fight.
b) Hendo and Nate have climbed there way back to the top of the division.

Either deserves a rematch.

I'm not saying that either Nate or Dan don't deserve a rematch just that I would rather see Silva move up for some super fights.

One thing that i'm keeping an eye on his how well Belfort performs against Franklin if he can blow him out the water quickly then surely he should jump to the top of the queue especially having wins over Lindland who was widely considered the 2nd best MW at the time of the Belfort fight and Franklin who was former champion and widely regarded as one of the best MW in MMA.

Silva should defend the belt as i said he had no problem defending against average fighters like Leites & Cote so why should this be no different is it because Cote shown how to frustrate Silva and knowing what a great strategist Greg Jackson is maybe they feel he could give him problems.

Im a Cote fan as well, and I think it was far too soon for him but my point is Silva didn't beat him. Either Hendo or Nate ca have the rematch but to show who deserves it, id prefer them to fight. Im a huge Nate fan so I don't want him to go in there out of his depth like he did last time. With 3 fights left I see why Silva only wants to fight the best of the best.

Good call Im a big Belfort fan and if he blows Rich away Id expect him to get a shot as Silva before he retires. For a long time Belfort was my call to be the man to beat him and I still stick by it, If Belfort fights Anderson im sticking £50 in Belfort!!

Its a great month for fights weve so many good fights happening between all the MMA, the Boxing and K-1! I might stick a few quid on Belfort vs Rich as he is going in an underdog!

Has anyone heard the Hendo rumour that he is currently out of contract with UFC? This is a MMAbay story so not gospel but the ball seems to be firmly in Hendos court... the problem here is that If Hendo insists on a Title fight with Anderson were does that Leave both Lil Nog and Marquardt? I doubt Nate would be open to stepping up to Lhw despite being a decent size for the weight class..

the Hendo rumour is true i saw it somewhere else, he says Silva is the only fight he wants at 185.

also might aswell say it here, the muscles from brussels jean claude van damme is entering the realm of professional kickboxing against an olympic gold medallist boxer from thailand, dont know when though, but i will defo watch it. Maybe he could replace Mousasi in the superhulk tourney! hed be better than Canseco! anyway, back to the footy.

I am probably in the minority here but I think Yushin Okami should get next shot if he gets past Sonnen at UFC104. He should have had one ages ago but got injured.

I know he has a boring style of fighting but he is one fighter Anderson Silva has yet to face in the UFC and he does hold the last victory over him (albeit by dodgy disqualification!!)

But I'll throw something else out there. I reckon if Shogun beats Machida at UFC104, Silva will get fast tracked to a 205 title shot, either with a qualifier against Henderson or Evans (if Rampage won't fight him) or a straight shot. Dana has done shit like that before and, if Silva were to win, would enhance Dana's claims that he is No1 P4P. If Machida wins, Silva won't fight him so that means he stays at 185 and either fights Henderson, Marquardt or Okami, if he beats Sonnen at the same event, and to me, Okami is the only one who has anything different to bring to the table.

While I haven't seen Shogun fight too much, I reckon it would be a great fight between him and Silva!!! They could have a mini tournament similar to the HW one to sort out a middleweight champ, if Silva wins, which would add interest to a division that has suffered from having such a dominant champion.

For some reason, I see UFC 104 answering a lot of questions about the future of Anderson Silva. For those conspiracy theorists among us, search the UFC middleweight roster. Where is their champion???