from my understanding dana is mad at forrest for running out of the ring crying after he got beat by jardine.
Essentially, you're correct. Forrest is nearing the end of his contract. Dana would like to sign him to an extension but needs to justify why he shouldn't pay any real money to Forrest. So he lines Forrest up to get destroyed, Forrest goes down swinging, retains a bit of popularity, and White can re-sign him for peanuts. That's just how they roll.
It's also one of the problems with the UFC having a monopoly over the sport. Now that they've shut down Pride and own the WEC, it's "my way or the highway" for most of these guys.