Bellator MW Champ Hector Lombard: "I Want Dan Henderson...Period."

Bellator middleweight champion puts Strikeforce and Dan Henderson on notice that he wants to pursue that fight.  Guess what?  Lombard has Bellator's blessing to pursue the fight with Henderson if Strikeforce is willing to put that fight on.  Lombard spoke with MMAJunkie about the possiblities:

"I would sign that contract today," Lombard said. "Dan Henderson is a great fighter and a legend in the sport, but I know I have the skills to beat him."

Lombard currently trains with American Top Team, and he carries a 16-fight unbeaten streak. Lombard made his U.S. debut earlier this year in Bellator's debut middleweight tournament, and the 31-year-old ran through Jared Hess, Damien Stelly and Virgil Lozano en route to capturing the promotion's 185-pound title.

"U.S. fans have only seen a little of my abilities," Lombard said. "Fighting and beating Dan Henderson would let me show the world what I'm capable of."

Lombard's manager speaks on Bellator giving Lombard their blessing to pursue the fight:

"(Bellator CEO) Bjorn Rebney has told us he's on board with Lombard taking this fight," Kawa said. "Obviously Hector will need to defend his title in 2010, but in the meantime, he'd really like to make this fight happen. Thankfully, Bjorn understands how Bellator can also benefit from a great performance by Hector at Strikeforce – not to mention what a great fight it would be for all MMA fans."

Strikeforce has been open to working with other promotions, so I suppose nothing is out of the realm of possibility.  It's doubtful that they would let Henderson fight someone outside their promotion in his first Strikeforce fight though.  If this fight were to go down, who would you take and why?