Middleweight contender Dan Henderson responded Friday to a Yahoo! Sports report that he was close to finalizing a deal with Strikeforce, telling MMA Weekly that he hopes to return to the UFC but that he’s exploring all his options.

“I’m still hoping to come to terms with the UFC, until I heard this. And I will be exploring other options for sure, but I definitely need to make sure I get paid.”

Three bouts were added to the card for UFC Fight Night 20 on Friday, as Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce, Efrain Escudero vs. Nik Lentz, and Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson were reported by MMAjunkie and Fanhouse for the January 11 Spike TV-televised event that is expected to take place in Fairfax, Virginia.

Middleweights Demian Maia and Dan Miller will return to the Octagon in February, squaring off in a featured contest at UFC 110 on February 6 in Las Vegas. Maia improved to 11-0 with five-straight UFC victories before suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Nate Marquardt in August, while Miller had won three-straight before a May loss to Chael Sonnen.

A lightweight matchup between Tyson Griffin and Jim Miller is in the works for UFC 108 on January 2 in Las Vegas. Griffin has won six of his last seven fights, including recent wins over Rafael dos Anjos and Hermes Franca, while Miller has gone 4-1 in the UFC with wins over the likes of Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig.

Welterweight contenders Carlos Condit and Paul Daley are expected to meet at UFC 108 on January 2 in Las Vegas. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the contest, and formal contracts are in the works, according to a report from FightersOnly.
Condit (24-5), the WEC’s final 170-pound champ, dropped his UFC debut to Martin Kampmann [...]

The UFC will likely make its Virginia debut in January with UFC Fight Night 20, a Spike TV-televised event that is expected to be held on Monday, January 11 at the the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virgnia near Washington, D.C. Newcomers Mike “Joker” Guymon and Rory MacDonald are likely to square off on the card.

They edited the show to make me look like I didn’t care about my team, but as you can clearly see I was coaching against a T.U.F. show champion (Rashad) and he came from the Ultimate Fighter so he knows how to play the camera and be fake. The behind the scenes stuff from season [...]

Undefeated Canadian welterweight Rory MacDonald has signed a four-fight deal with the UFC, joining the promotion’s deep 170-pound roster. MacDonald’s signing was today announced on The Underground, with his Octagon debut to-be-determined.

CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED — Team Rashad remained perfect on Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10, improving to 5-0 as Justin Wren choked out veteran Wes Sims of Team Rampage with an arm triangle early in the opening round matchup.

On Tuesday, the UFC officially announced a pair of December cards, as the promotion heads to Las Vegas on December 5 for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale before holding UFC 107 on December 12 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Previously-reported fights between Matt Hamill and Jon Jones as well as Frankie Edgar and Kurt Pellegrino were confirmed for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, while BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo, and Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago were announced for UFC 107.

UFC hall of famer and former light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell was eliminated from “Dancing With The Stars” on Tuesday following his performance of the Texas two-step on Monday with dance partner Anna Trebunskaya that failed to impress judges.

Liddell finishes 11th out of 16 competitors after his week four elimination.

Undefeated welterweight prospect Johny Hendricks will return to action at UFC 107 to square off against unbeaten newcomer Ricardo Funch on December 12 in Memphis, Tennessee. UFC 107 is headlined by lightweight champ BJ Penn vs. challenger Diego Sanchez and also features, Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida, Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir, and Paul Buentello vs. Todd Duffee.

During a Tuesday UFC press conference in Japan, middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama announced that he’d be fighting Wanderlei Silva early next year, likely in February at UFC 110 in Las Vegas or UFC 111 in Sydney, Australia. The matchup, originally rumored for UFC 108 in January, would be featured on the UFC 110 card or could potentially headline the UFC’s Australian debut.