From the moment news broke on Monday that Dan Henderson had signed with Strikeforce, all eyes pointed to a potential title match against light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. But when reached via e-mail by FanHouse, the 24-year-old Dutch fighter said that the organization had yet to approach him about a fight against Henderson."That would be an exciting fight for the fans," he wrote. "For me, it's just another fight. But I understand that a win over a caliber fighter like Dan Henderson is very interesting."
Mousasi informed FanHouse that his next fight will be contested under K-1 rules at the Dynamite!! show on New Year's Eve in Japan, although his opponent has yet to be made official. The former DREAM middleweight champion is 1-0 in his kickboxing career, defeating Musashi via first-round TKO at last year's Dynamite!! show.
When asked when he expects to fight in MMA again, Mousasi noted that his contract states he can only compete on the same Strikeforce shows that feature his fellow M-1 Global fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.
"So when he fights, I will fight too. But sooner would be also be fine by me," he wrote.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told FanHouse on Monday that he expects Henderson to make his debut for the organization in "March or April or May," and given the injuries Emelianenko sustained in his recent fight against Brett Rogers, he is only expected to fight again for Strikeforce late first quarter 2010 or early second quarter. In other words, the timing for everyone involved should work out in favor of a Mousasi-Henderson sometime early next year.
Regardless, even though a high-profile victory over a veteran like Henderson would help his stock rise in the MMA world, Mousasi, a winner in his last 14 straight MMA fights, said he won't specifically ask for a fight against the former Olympian.
"[It's] not up to me," he wrote. "I fight what they put in front of me. So if they say fight Dan, then that's it."
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