White says "we'd love to take" Shields, plays coy regarding Emelianenko
by John Morgan on Mar 22, 2010 at 2:50 am ET
BROOMFIELD, Colo. – While the UFC will remain firmly in the MMA spotlight for the next 10 days with two more shows on the horizon, that focus will briefly shift in April for Strikeforce's second-ever CBS-broadcast event.
Headlining the April 17 "Strikeforce: Nashville" card is Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields as he meets former UFC star Dan Henderson.
Following Sunday night's post-UFC on Versus 1 press conference, UFC president Dana White said he's not very fond of the matchup, but he is keeping an eye on Shields.
"Dan Henderson is fighting [expletive] Jake Shields," White said to MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "Come on. Are you serious? Jake Shields is 170 pounds, and he's their (185-pound) champion.
"And I just found out today that they're running commercials on [CBS], and the commercials are like three seconds, and it basically says, 'MMA legend Dan Henderson,' and he hits a heavy bag, I guess, and looks back at the camera. That's the [expletive] commercial. How about, 'Jake Shields is our [expletive] champion'?"
Strikeforce recently began airing those teaser spots on CBS during the network's broadcast of the highly watched NCAA men's basketball tournament. White believes the angle of the advertising, as well as the matchup itself, makes determining Strikeforce's motives simple.
"Jake Shields is on the last fight of his contract, so they're feeding him to Dan Henderson right now because they want to get rid of him because he's going to go away, or they're going to have to pay him some big money to stick around or whatever the deal is," White said. "'We're paying more money to Dan Henderson than we can afford already, so let's get Jake's ass kicked by Dan Henderson and get rid of Jake Shields.'
"It's such [expletive] bush-league [expletive], and you guys know it. They're a [expletive] joke. Showtime's always been a joke with all their sports programming, and this is no different."
White said he clearly favors Henderson in the matchup, but if Shields can pull off the upset, he should expect a call from the UFC.
"If Jake Shields could pull that off, that would be incredible, and good for him," White said. "He's going to get paid because what's going to happen is we would love to take him from there, and I'm sure they'd love him to stick around.
"I will help drive that [expletive] number right up through the roof and let the Showtime boys pay him a lot of money so that Jake can stick it right up their ass. 'I just choked out Dan Henderson, and now you [expletives] are going to pay me for trying to stick it up my ass. I'm going to stick it up yours.'"
White said he wouldn't rule out bidding for Shields even if he lost the fight. The UFC exec said the absurdity of the matchup means the responsibility for a defeat wouldn't fall directly on Shields' shoulders.
"The fight makes no sense," White said. "You're going to fight Dan Henderson at 185 (pounds) when you're really the 170-pound champion? That's how [expletive] up that company is, and they're our competitor."
But while White is comfortable admitting he's willing to go after one of Strikeforce's biggest stars, he was far less forthcoming when his competitor's biggest asset was mentioned.
When pressed as to whether the delay of Fedor Emelianenko's return to the Strikeforce cage had anything to do with the UFC, White had more questions than answers.
"What's going on?" White asked. "Why isn't he fighting? That's weird."
And in typical eyebrow-raising fashion, White chose to leave more ambiguity than clarity in the ongoing saga surrounding "The Last Emperor."
"I don't know (if he has a contract with Strikeforce)," White said. "If he doesn't, that would be interesting, wouldn't it?"
For the latest on "Strikeforce: Nashville," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
