UFC 105 may have found its main event.FanHouse has learned that the UFC is looking to book a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson for the Nov. 14 show at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. As of Thursday afternoon, though, official bout agreements had yet to be finalized.
The winner of this potential bout would likely receive another title shot against current middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Marquardt was last seen knocking out Demian Maia at UFC 102 in just 21 seconds, while Henderson defeated Michael Bisping via second-round knockout at UFC 100 in July.
Despite the fact that both men have already suffered losses to Silva in the past, they are clearly the top two contenders in the UFC's middleweight division. Marquardt lost to Silva via TKO at UFC 73 in July 2007. Since then, he has won four of five fights. Meanwhile, Henderson lost to Silva at UFC 82 via rear-naked choke submission. He has since rebounded to win his last three fights in a row.
MMA Bay first reported the possibility of the bout on Tuesday.
One of the potential holdups could be Henderson's current contract status with the UFC. Earlier this week, SI.com MMA writer Josh Gross tweeted that Henderson was a free agent and contract negotiations were characterized as "slow."
Other match-ups expected for the event include Bisping vs. Denis Kang, Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim and James Wilks vs. Matt Brown. UFC 105 is scheduled to air via tape delay in the United States on Spike TV.
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