Dan Henderson Likely To Return on July Strikeforce Card; Fedor Fight Not Offered Yet

Dan Henderson

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson will likely return to the promotion for a fight on their upcoming July card, which has been speculated to end up on pay-per-view.

Sources close to the fighter indicated that while no formal contracts have been introduced, Henderson is all but a lock to end up on the July card.

What hasn’t been determined yet, however, is who will face Henderson when he returns.

Rumors began surfacing just after MMAWeekly.com’s initial report about a possible Strikefore pay-per-view in July, that Henderson could face former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko on the card. Fedor is considering a drop to light heavyweight for his next bout.

Sources have indicated at this point no offer has been made for a potential Henderson/Emelianenko fight, but it is one that Strikeforce’s top light heavyweight would gladly accept.

A Henderson/Emelianenko main event could be just the draw the promotion needs to sell a pay-per-view broadcast, but at this time an offer hasn’t been made.

The other possibility for an opponent for Henderson could be Gegard Mousasi, should he get past Keith Jardine on Saturday night in San Diego. Mousasi was originally supposed to face Mike Kyle on the card, with the winner getting an eventual title shot, but a broken hand forced Kyle off the card.

As far as Emelianenko goes, the Russian fighter is battling a two fight losing streak, but it appears he has been open to dropping down in weight. A title fight against Henderson would be a perfect way for the Russian to debut at 205 pounds.

While the July show for Strikeforce is still in the works, all signs are pointing towards a pay-per-view broadcast. The promotion has long talked about making the move to pay-per-view, and with new owners in Zuffa behind them, it looks more and more likely to happen.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
Follow @DamonMartin on Twitter or e-mail Damon a question or comment.

Follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.