What to do about UFC 105 and its lack of a true main event

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With UFC 105 lacking a main event at this time, the UFC is considering moving a planned heavyweight bout between Frank Mir and Cheick Kongo from UFC 107 in December to UFC 105 on November 14th.

Fighter's Only has a report up on their website detailing the UFC's dilemma in finding a true main event for their next venture into Great Britain.

Rumors have been running rampant involving a middleweight title eliminator bout between Dan Henderson and Nate Matquardt. Both men have a valid claim to the #1 contender status but Henderson feels as though he deserves the first shot and has stated that he has no intentions of fighting Marquardt.

Both men are coming off of convincing performances. Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping at UFC 100, while Marquardt did the same to Demian Maia at UFC 102.

There were whispers that UFC President Dana White had promised the winner of the Bisping-Henderson matchup the next opportunity at Anderson Silva's middleweight crown, in fact White had stated that Henderson was next in line during a press conference announcing the resigning of both Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort.

What has changed since then is anyone's guess but Henderson certainly is not happy about it. One sticky point that many fans are unaware of is that Henderson is as of right now a free agent. He has stated a sincere desire to stay with the UFC and even though Strikeforce is becoming a more viable option as of late, they can't afford to pay Henderson what he makes with the UFC.

Throughout all of this drama, the UFC has struggled to find a suitable main event for UFC 105. Michael Bisping will take on Denis Kang in the co-main event but that bout is not seen as strongt enough to headline a pay-per-view. The original plan was for Bisping to take on Wanderlei Silva but The Axe Murderer underwent recent facial reconstruction surgery and is unavailable.

The Diego Sanchez-BJ Penn lightweight title bout has been shifted to the main event of UFC 107 due to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson pulling out of his planned light heavyweight showdown with Rashad Evans. Jackson of course has been chosen to star as B.A. Baracus in the A-Team movie that is coming out next year.

Many believe the plan all along was to have Anderson Silva fight on the card but his management said that he would be undergoing elbow surgery which would sideline him until early 2010. They have since gone back on that statement and assured everyone that Silva was available for the right fight.

Mir has main evented a pay-per-view before, in fact he headlined the biggest event in UFC history as he took on Brock Lesnar for the second time at UFC 100 for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship. Kongo on the other hand is not seen as a fighter who could help attract viewers to purchase the event. Even though the French born kick boxer trains in England alongside both Bisping and Jackson at the Wolfslair Academy, fans across the world will not be happy with his inclusion into the main event.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the other hand is a huge star in Europe and his win over the ageless Randy Couture at UFC 102 has catapulted him back into title contention. He lost his interim heavyweight title last December at UFC 92 against Frank Mir. It wasn't long after their fight that news came out about a knee injury that Nogueira had suffered in the weeks leading to their title bout. On top of that Nogueira was hospitalized for a week while preparing for the bout with a serious staph infection.

Mir has criticized Nogueira for using excuses and now that Big Nog has proven he is far from finished he has gone public with a desire to face off against Mir once again at UFC 107 in December. Maybe the UFC convince him to take the spot from Kongo and headline UFC 105 against his new found rival.