Dana White has always wanted the top fighters in the UFC, despite what his "haters" (lame word, but appropriate) have said/thought. He straight fanboy-ed when he thought they were going to sign Fedor, after all the years people speculated he "hated" Fedor because he was so good.
The truth is if he/the front office think you're asking for too much....they're going to let you walk, despite how good you may be. He's a big Hendo fan....but he let him go to Strikeforce when Dan wanted what they thought was too much. It was obvious how much he wanted Fedor, but they wanted WAY too much. It goes on and on. Shields, Bader, Rory, Fitch, Okami, Moose, Davis....all guys who are really-good-to-great fighters that they had to let walk due to them wanting/expecting more than they could pay them (based on their marketability).
Of course, the exceptions to the rule are legit icons who actually bring the eyeballs and $$$s. Fighters like Conor/GSP/Brock/Prime (LOL) Rousey...say what you want about in-cage skill, but they brought the PPV buys, so they get the money. Ben may have had the pedigree, but never the selling power.