Henderson Declines Hypothetical Marquardt Bout

If you thought Nate Marquardt put himself in a perfect position Saturday to meet Dan Henderson for the right to face Anderson Silva in 2010, you are going to be one sad little kid come Christmas morning.

Henderson, it seems, has zero interest in anyone but Silva, telling SportsIllustrated.com’s Josh Gross that he would turn down a fight with Marquardt and that he’d sooner move back to 205 lbs. than take a consolation fight.

A summary of the spilled garbage can that is the middleweight division:

• Anderson Silva has expressed little interest in rematching Marquardt or Henderson directly, with manager Ed Soares advising the UFC to instead have those two meet to decide a number-one contender. Silva would rather fight Frank Mir in a heavyweight contest. (Mir thinks he knows why; the rest of us are still a little shaky on the whole thing.)

• Dana White has no interest in having Silva face Mir, or any other heavyweight, and would prefer Silva entertain bouts at light-heavyweight -- where Silva will refuse to face champion Lyoto Machida.

• Nate Marquardt seems cool with anything. Nate is a good guy.

• Henderson went on to say that Silva is avoiding him, a flammable statement that makes about as much sense as someone implying he’s avoiding Marquardt.

• What a mess. Clearly, Silva needs a fight, yet no one is talking about the most obvious choice: Jose Canseco.