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Strikeforce Wants Champ Feijao Cavalcante to Face Dan Henderson in March

Posted by Brett Atchley on the 12 January 2011 | View Comments

Strikeforce has its sights set on a March 5 date for a light-heavyweight championship bout that would pit current kingpin Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante against challenger Dan Henderson, sources with knowledge of the situation have confirmed to MMA Fighting.

The event will take place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The fight, however, is not yet signed, with contract negotiations ongoing, though both fighters are training under the assumption they will be competing against each other that night.

Henderson was Strikeforce's major acquisition of 2010. They signed him away from the UFC where he was coming off a Knock Out of the Night (and year) performance at UFC 100 -- the UFC's biggest PPV ever -- and coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter.

But Henderson disappointed in his Strikeforce debut when he dropped a decision to then middleweight champ Jake Shields. Henderson looked out of shape and tired quickly in that bout. Despite nearly finishing Shields in the first round, Henderson faded and spent the majority of the remaining four rounds on his back being utterly dominated by the smaller man on the ground. 

Henderson rebounded by pasting Renato Sobral, aka Babalu in December. 

Cavalcante defeated Muhammed Lawal aka King Mo in August to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt. Although he was very impressive in that performance, Feijao still hasn't erased the stain of his shocking 2009 upset loss to Mike Kyle. An impressive win over Henderson would erase any doubts about Feijao's status among the sport's elite.