After Rough Debut, Benson Henderson Wants ‘Big Fights’ at 170, 155 Pounds in Bellator

After his Bellator MMA signing was met with much fanfare, Benson Henderson received a cold dose of reality in his promotional debut. The MMA Lab stalwart marched into his 170-pound title bout against Andrey Koreshkov as a significant favorite, but he left Bellator 153 a humbled man after a lopsided decision loss to the Russian champion. Fortunately for Henderson, he has proven to be a versatile and resilient competitor, and he will have another golden opportunity on Friday in his old 155-pound stomping grounds when he locks horns with Patricio Freire in the Bellator 160 headliner. At stake is a lightweight title shot against current kingpin Michael Chandler. Henderson recently told Sherdog.com that he was presented the option of waiting for Chandler to heal from a broken hand, but “Smooth” preferred to stay active. “I have a pretty short window of opportunity in which to pursue my career….So I want to take advantage of that,” he said. “I want to fight as much as possible. Chandler was hurt. Josh Thomson had concussion problems. They said, ‘Do you want to wait around for Chandler to heal up?’ I was like, ‘Come on man, you already know the answer to that question.’” Freire, the ex-featherweight champion, would seem to be an unlikely opponent considering he has spent his entire …

continue reading in source www.sherdog.com