Today MMAweekly.com report that the 39 year-old has his eye on a return to the light-heavyweight division instead after finding the weigh-cut to 185lbs difficult last time out.

According to Scott Coker a rematch with Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral, who he defeated by decision back in 2000 could be on the cards, with Gegard Mousasi being another possibility.

Sobral brought up the idea himself, calling out Henderson after his win over Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce L.A last month.   Coker had instead intended for Sobral to be the first challenger for current 205lb champion King Mo, but as the two are friends the idea was nixed, and Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante will now fight for the belt instead.

Personally I’m a little disappointed by the news as Henderson would have been one of the major players in the middleweight tournament.  With Cung Le also recently backing out, the star power is starting to thin out a little.

At the same time it’s perhaps not such a bad move considering that Strikeforce are somewhat limited in their available options at light-heavyweight.  Sobral’s refusal to fight King Mo has made life a little awkward for the promotion, so bringing in Henderson gives them a little flexibility and some good match-ups to look forward to in the coming months.

The first round was close with Sobral looking cautious and staying an elusive target while Lawler appearing happy to bide his time and wait for the perfect moment to land with his heavy hands. Two brief takedowns were perhaps enough for Sobral to secure the round, though to his credit Lawler managed to get back to his feet quickly.

In the second round Sobral began to settle in and found a home for his kicks throughout the five minute period, peppering Lawler to the leg, body and head.

The momentum changed in the third round though as Lawler began to push the pace and went hunting for the knockout blow. That forced Sobral into defensive mode, and he did a good job of using movement to steer clear from the worst of the onslaught while doing just enough to keep Lawler at bay until the final bell.

In the end it was a close fight, but Sobral did enough to secure all three judges scorecards in his favor 29-28.

Before the fight Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had been talking up a Sobral Vs King Mo title fight if he emerged victorious, but afterwards Babalu reiterated that he did not want to fight his friend and team-mate ‘King Mo’.

He did however offer up an alternative, saying that he would like the opportunity to avenge a previous defeat to Dan Henderson dating back to 2000. On that occasion he lost by majority decision, the first loss of his career after going twelve fights unbeaten.

It remains to be seen if Scott Coker will be amenable to such a fight taking place or if he has other plans for the two fighters.

Things can change quickly in the fight game however, and after a disappointing loss in what arguably looked the easiest of the three bouts on paper, where does the 39 year-old go from here?

Before last night’s fight the feeling was that if he could defeat Shields then Gegard Mousasi’s 205lb belt could be his next big challenge. While the two may still fight, it’s a bout that has now lost some of it’s headline appeal after both men lost last night. Also, with the two being key components in Strikeforce’s future plans, they may wish to keep them apart rather than risk one of them going 0-2.

It’s not outside the realms of possibility that Henderson could move up to 205lbs to face the new champion ‘King Mo’ however. While it’s hardly ideal after just being beaten at 185lbs, this is a road the fighter has been down before – albeit in reverse.

when he re-signed with the UFC back in 2007 after a stint in PRIDE, Hendo fought for the 205lb title, losing to ‘Rampage’ Jackson, before moving down to compete for the 185lb title against Anderson Silva, resulting in another loss.

With a move up to heavyweight to face Fedor now highly unlikely in the near future, Henderson’s other option is to remain at 185lbs for the time being, and there are still opponents there for him if that is the case.

For instance, before sparking off a riot in the cage by calling out Jake Shields in the aftermath of the Shields – Henderson fight,Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller had hinted he would be eager to fight either of the two headline fighters next.

A less marketable fight to casual fans, but certainly an exciting one for the hardcore contingent would be against jiu-jitsu specialist Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza who disposed of Matt Lindland in his Strikeforce debut back in December. Scott Coker implied after the Nashville event that he may be getting lined up as Shields next opponent though.

Though either Scott Smith or Cung Le would also be worthy middleweight adversaries rumors suggest that those two are set for an immediate rematch, ruling them out for now, along with Robbie Lawler who is a friend of Henderson.

So which match-up will Strikeforce opt for?

Henderson is believed to be getting paid a considerable sum of money to fight for Strikeforce and only has three fights left on his contract so it seems doubtful that they will want to put him in anything other than a high profile fight next, despite his loss.

Therefore I wouldn’t be surprised if does make the jump up to light-heavyweight to face either Mousasi or King Mo.

I’m going to suggest that the latter option may take place. It might seem ridiculous to suggest that a fighter who has just lost should fight another champion at a different weight-class. It’s worth bearing in mind however that Strikeforce has a limited roster, and have already made unconventional decisions, such as scheduling Brett Rogers (who lost to Fedor in his last fight) to face current heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem next month. Logic doesn’t always apply here!

If they do go down this route then it also gives time for Mousasi to get back to winning ways, and sets him up nicely to face the winner of Hendo Vs King Mo at a later date.

There is also a suggestion that Henderson had difficulty making the cut to 185lbs which gives Strikeforce a promotional angle to work by suggesting that he will be in better shape at 205lbs – and to be fair others have suggested that in the past.

As I suggested above though, it’s not easy to second guess what Strikeforce will do given their slightly chaotic style of match-making. My only hope is that they don’t keep us in suspense for too long as I’m intrigued to see what they do next with one of their key fighters.

In the video Henderson discusses his upbringing, his Olympic wrestling career, and his family. It’s the kind of spot that’s clearly been designed to bring a more personable, human side to the fighter, as well as the sport in general.

In doing so CBS will no doubt be hoping to attract the interest of the all important ‘casual viewers’ that the station hopes will tune into the live event and bolster the TV ratings.

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It’s been almost nine months since his last fight, a memorable win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100, and the former PRIDE champion admits the long layoff does have it’s disadvantages.

“Getting back in shape is a little tougher sometimes, especially [as I'm] getting up there in age,” he tells interviewer Jeff Dotseth.

That’s not surprising to hear given that Henderson turns 40 in August of this year, but it’ll be interesting to see if it does have any impact on his cardio on the night.

I don’t expect it to, but if there are any issues then they will become apparent in a five round fight. Henderson has proven to be one of the most durable fighters in the sport over the past 13 years though, and has shown little sign of age catching up with him in his recent fights.

His experience should also help see him through as he’s been in many high profile title fights during his career, and having went the full 25 minutes with Quinton Jackson for the UFC’s light-heavyweight title at UFC 75 in 2007, he’ll know what it takes to get in shape for this bout.

Watch Henderson’s latest interview and a new video blog for CBS below…

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Dan Henderson Interview:

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Dan Henderson Video Blog:

See below for interviews from Fight! Magazine who had a chance to speak with some of the major fighters who are participating in the event.

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Gegard Mousasi:

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Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal:

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Dan Henderson:

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Gilbert Melendez:

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Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is believed to have put pen to paper on a 16 month, multi-fight deal with the promotion today, Loretta Hunt revealed.

Arlovski has fought for the promotion once before back in June of 2009 against Brett Rogers, who knocked the Belarusian out just 22 seconds into the opening round. It marked the fighter’s second loss in a row, having fallen to another current Strikeforce heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, at an Affliction event in January of the same year.

Despite that the 31 year old remains a credible contender and carries more name recognition than many of the other fighters currently lurking in the promotions heavyweight division.

He is expected to be put into action on a May 15th Strikeforce card opposite Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva who suffered a decision loss to Fabricio Werdum in his last outing for the company.

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Meanwhile Jake Shields today confirmed on twitter that his bout with Dan Henderson will be the headline bout for Strikeforce’s April 17th event which will be broadcast live for free via CBS.

In addition he stated that Gegard Mousasi Vs Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal will also feature on the main card along with other bouts still to be confirmed.

The major announcement was that former UFC and PRIDE star Dan Henderson will feature in the game. Henderson of course recently signed with Strikeforce and is expected to face Jake Shields for the middleweight title on CBS in April.

The news does leave some doubt as to whether Henderson will still appear in THQ’s UFC Undisputed 2010 title. Hendo was a playable character in the 2009 edition which has sold 3.5 million copies to date.

Another UFC fighter announced for EASports game is Frank Trigg. While this may seem controversial given the recent war of words between EA and UFC president Dana White, it’s worth bearing in mind that Trigg likely signed on to appear in the game before he was invited back into the UFC.

As with Henderson, it’s unclear if Trigg’s inclusion in EA MMA excludes him from appearing in UFC Undisputed 2010 as well.

The final fighter announced for the game this week was Tyron Woodley, the promising welterweight contender who has been featured in the Strikeforce Challengers series and is currently 5-0 in mixed martial arts competition.

EASports MMA is expected to be released later in the year on XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. Visit mma.easports.com for more information.

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After last night’s Strikeforce: Evolution event, Scott Coker spoke with sherdog.com about who we might be seeing fight on the card.

First off he revealed that it is likely that Fedor Emelianenko will face Fabricio Werdum. Fedor is the promotions biggest asset at this time, but Werdum isn’t an opponent that’s going to be met with widespread enthusiasm from fans.

The good news is that the rest of the card should be stacked. Coker confirmed that recent acquisition Dan Henderson is likely to fight Jake Shields for the middleweight belt.  He also stated he would like to see female star Gina Carano back in action.

Finally he suggested that Alistair Overeem might make his first appearance on a Strikeforce card for over two years against either Antonio Silva or Brett Rogers.

Possible Strikeforce CBS Card in April, 2010:

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• Fedor Emelianenko Vs Fabricio Werdum
  Dan Henderson Vs Jake Shields (MW Title Fight)
  Gina Carano Vs ?
  Alistair Overeem Vs Antonio Silva / Brett Rogers

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It certainly has the makings of a card that would make a solid event for their second CBS event.  Whether it can actually be brought to fruition or not remains to be seen.

Gina Carano has disappeared of the MMA map since her loss to Cyborg Santos, and there’s no guarantee she will return to fight in 2010.  Meanwhile the Head Kick Legend site recently reported that Alistair Overeem won’t be fighting in the U.S until later in 2010.

Looking beyond the CBS card, Coker also discussed other match-ups we might see in 2010, including Gilbert Melendez Vs Shinya Aoki (potentially in the 2nd quarter of the year) and Josh Thomson Vs KJ Noons.  He also suggested that a third match between Melendez and Thomson will happen at some stage.

Watch the full interview with the Strikeforce CEO below.

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The first event, which featured a headline bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, drew some four million viewers, peaking at 5.46 million for the main event.  While not earth-shattering, clearly CBS have seen enough potential in those numbers to grant a second show.

“Coming off a successful November show, we look forward to being back in the cage,” Kahl told MMAweekly.

He also revealed that both Fedor and new Strikeforce signing Dan Henderson will feature on the show in the main event, and co-main event, though no opponents have yet been named.

Speculation however points to Fedor potentially fighting current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, while Henderson is believed to be on course for a title shot against new middleweight title holder Jake Shields.

Further details on both the fighters involved on the card, and an exact date and venue will be released at a later date.

“We’re looking at a few different dates and there are venue considerations,” Kahl stated.