Dan Henderson likely to face “Babalu” Sobral
Mixed martial arts legend and superstar Dan Henderson is likely to face Renato “Babalu” Sobral for his next fight, Strikeforce MMA CEO Scott Coker told MMA Weekly recently.
The fight would take place in Strikeforce’s 205-pound light heavyweight division, rather than the 185-pound middleweight division Dan Henderson has fought at in the past. Sobral also recently fought at a catch-weight of 195 pounds, and it was expected he might drop down to the deeper 185-pound division. But Coker said Henderson no longer wanted to cut the water weight necessary to make 185 pounds and would prefer to stay at 205.
"I talked to Jordan, his manager, and they said they probably want to fight at 205 instead of 185. (They) felt that the weight cut was too much, and Dan would welcome to fight Babalu again, [former light heavyweight champion] Gegard Mousasi, for a 205-pound contender's bout," said Coker.
"I think a fight between Babalu and Dan is something we might pursue in the very near future."
Hendo looks to return to form
The decision to fight at 205 seems to follow from a hugely disappointing début for Henderson, who came to Strikeforce from the Ultimate Fighting Championships with high hopes of capturing their middleweight title belt from Jake Shields. Coming in as a five-to-one favourite, Henderson was instead dominated by Shields for the last four rounds of the five round fight after having almost knocked out Shields in the first round twice.
With the amount of money Strikeforce had to pay for him to come to their company, it seems they’ll definitely want the 39-year-old competing for a belt soon. In his fight against Shields, he looked drained and overtired from having to have cut so much weight before the weigh ins, which in spite of a 24-hour rehydration period can still lead muscles overtired and sluggish.
With Shields having seemingly vacated his belt, Strikeforce will be holding a 185 pound tournament to crown a new champion, but it doesn’t seem either Henderson or Sobral will be taking part.
"I don't think you'll see Dan in the 185-pound tournament," Coker told MMA weekly.
A storied career
While it seems Henderson is moving away from the 185-pound weight class, he’s had no lack of success there in the past. While a superstar in the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships, he captured the 185-pound belt there in 2005 when he won that promotion’s tournament to crown a champion.
He then moved up and defeated Wanderlei Silva with a crushing left hook to win the 205-pound championship, becoming the first fighter ever to hold two belts simultaneously in a major MMA promotion.
After Pride was bought by the UFC, he lost both title unification bouts in close matches, but then rebounded with three straight wins. He had huge hopes placed on his shoulders when he signed with Strikeforce. He had just come off of a spectacular victory at UFC 100, the biggest event the company had ever held, when he dominated opponent Michael Bisping from the opening bell, and finally unleashed a crushing overhand right that knocked Bisping clean out before following up with a vicious diving forearm strike. It was widely considered the best knockout of 2009, and one of the greatest of all time.
For Sobral, a chance to regain his belt
If Coker is correct, then either of these men will get a shot at current champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, who defeated Gegard Mousasi to capture the belt. Mousasi had taken the belt from Sobral, who now seemingly finds himself back on track to a title shot after his impressive victory over Robbie Lawler in his last fight.
The two fought once before, 11 years ago, when Henderson defeated Sobral via split decision.
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