Dan Henderson has a beef with the UFC and so do I

Dan Henderson is bitter about being passed over for the next fight against UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and I don’t blame him.

After Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping, UFC president Dana White said he was next in line to fight Silva. Then Nate Marquardt knocked out Demian Maia and White backpedaled saying nothing was decided. Meanwhile, Silva said he’s prefer Henderson and Marquardt battle to determine who is the number one contender.

Then, out of nowhere, Vitor Belfort swoops in, KO’s Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight bout and is handed the golden ticket against Silva at UFC 108.

Now, I’m not saying Belfort isn’t the best of the bunch – talent-wise I think Belfort has the strongest chance of solving the puzzle that is Anderson Silva, certainly moreso than Henderson, Marquardt and the perennially dismissed yet equally deserving Yushin Okami. But Belfort’s also the least-deserving. He hasn’t even had one fight in the UFC at 185 pounds yet he’s getting a title shot in that very weight class against the most-dangerous fighter in the UFC. That’s unheard of.

On the basis of performance, what the UFC is telling us is that Belfort knocking out Franklin at catchweight and Matt Lindland (in an Affliction bout) is more impressive than Henderson beating Bisping, Franklin and Rousimar Palhares. It’s also more impressive than Marquardt dismantling Maia, Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia.

So what it comes down to is marketability. Belfort has never fought Silva before and his skills are somewhat legendary – explosive power, a knockout punch, sick jiu-jitsu. A Silva vs. Belfort fight is far more exciting than Silva versus either Henderson or Marquardt, which we’ve already seen. Never mind that Belfort has a loss to Henderson on his record, something Henderson, I’m sure, remembers quite well as he watches from the sidelines.

Yes, I’m more exited about seeing a Silva-Belfort showdown than any of the other options. And Dana White has always said the UFC was about giving fans the fights that they want to see. It is a business, after all. But opting for programming a big seller like Silva-Belfort over the more legitimate Silva-Henderson/Marquardt/Okami makes you realize that the UFC is more like the WWE than anyone would like to admit. The same way Brock Lesnar getting a title shot in just his fourth fight was as much about building on his popularity as a wrestler as it was his legitimate claim to title contention.