White Discusses Henderson Negotiations, Fedor, Silva-Belfort & Bashes Roy Nelson

LOS ANGELES -- UFC President Dana White said he went out to eat Wednesday and ran into Dan Henderson’s attorney eating with Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker.

The UFC’s negotiations to re-sign Henderson, explained White, have reached a “stalemate.”

“I made (Henderson) an offer,” said White, “and I guarantee you the offer I made, Strikeforce can’t pay.”

According to White, the money Henderson requested to re-sign would have made him “by far the highest paid fighter in the UFC.” The UFC president reiterated that he remains friends with Henderson and the negotiations are just business.

“I like Dan. We’re totally cool,” White said. “You’ll never hear me say a bad thing about Dan Henderson, other than he’s ugly, and that’s just the truth.”

On Fedor vs. Rogers

White said the thing that scares him the most about the upcoming Strikeforce matchup between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers is the possibility that Rogers could knock off Fedor, who, White maintained, should be fighting in the UFC.

White went on to acknowledge that he would probably want to sign Rogers should he indeed upset Fedor. White also said he expects CBS to pull a big number for its first MMA event in more than a year.

As for counterprogramming the CBS Strikeforce card, White matter-of-factly stated, “They want to be a competitor, let’s compete. I’m not going to make it easy for them.”

White Rips Nelson

CBS and Strikeforce surprisingly did not draw the most ire from White. His biggest target Thursday was clearly Roy Nelson. White called him a “moron” and an “idiot” multiple times and derided him as “Mr. Fitness” and “the bodybuilder.”

White is clearly not a fan of Nelson, but he confirmed that Nelson would be a welcome addition to the UFC should he prove worthy as a fighter.

Silva-Belfort Still Not Set

Last but not least, White confirmed that the Anderson Silva-Vitor Belfort main event for Jan. 2 is still up in the air. The determining factor will be Silva’s health and whether he will be released by his doctor in time to prepare for the bout. White also stated that there is no backup plan at the moment.