Benson Henderson’s debut for Bellator has been announced, and shows an insight into some of the motivation behind Smooth’s contract decision.
In his next fight, his first outside the UFC in five years, will be against Andrey Koreshov for the Bellator Welterweight title. The bout headlines Bellator 153 on April 22nd.
The bout announcement comes just shortly after a period of negotiations following Henderson’s last fight against Jorge Masvidal (which he won via split-decision). That fight was Henderson’s last on his UFC contract, and after testing the marketplace, eventually elected to leave the UFC and head to Bellator.
Announcing the move on Monday in a blog post on his website, Henderson said:
“I’d like to officially announce my move over to Bellator MMA. I’m beyond excited for this next phase of my career, it’s a big move, like any move when switching employers or jobs after having worked somewhere for such a long time.
“I’d be remiss to not thank Dana White and Lorenzo Fertita[sic] for the opportunities they presented me, you guys have helped me change my life for the better and to be able to provide my family with the things I didn’t have while growing up. For that I’ll always have the utmost appreciation. Thanks for all the advise[sic] you guys gave too, both business wise and personal.”
“Bellator presented one heck of an offer you couldn’t say no to,” said Henderson when discussing the move on MMAFighting’s MMA Hour. “They made it pretty easy on me. They opened up the red carpet, they were super nice. Very much taking care of me and showing how much they wanted myself on board, wanted myself a part of their team. When you get that sort of reception, it’s hard to say no.
“It would definitely be foolish for any fighter to not at least take a look at his options, take a look at what you could get potentially elsewhere.”
The biggest name to make the switch from the UFC to Bellator, the significance of Henderson’s move is of as yet uncertain. But with the Reebok deal clearly a factor in regards to monetary income, and with several UFC names coming to the end of their contracts (Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione and Aljamain Sterling for example) beginning to show an interest in testing the market, it’s quite possible that this is just the beginning of a streak of new signings for Viacom’s promotion.
“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Bellator President Scott Coker said on MMAFighting’s MMA Hour. “Fighters are fighting out their contacts. They want to negotiate. They really want to see what their value is. We’re going to help them to define what their value is. It’s always good for the industry to have more than one bidder.
“I’ve always said we’re going to build our roster from the ground up and then buy the free agents from the top down that we want.[…]All these free agents that are out there aren’t just testing free agency just to test it,” Coker said. “I think there are other fighters out there that we’ll get.”
“By the end of this year, I think we’re gonna have a really good roster on our hands and some really big fights ahead of us.”
If Coker’s prediction comes true, then it marks the first time a secondary promotion in MMA has risen since Zuffa’s purchase of Strikeforce. The UFC have long been the dominant force in Mixed Martial Arts, and have never struggled with competition since the demise of PRIDE FC. If Bellator continues to sign big names of fighters who wish to be paid more, then we could be headed towards interesting times in the sport.
When speaking on Henderson’s leaving the UFC earlier this week, UFC President Dana White showed no resentment towards the former Lightweight champions business choice.
“The truth is we made him an offer that would have paid him substantially more,” UFC President Dana White said to MMAJunkie on Monday. “Like not even in the same ballpark than he’s getting now, if he were to become world champion again, but he chose their deal, which offered more up front.
“He’s a former world champion who’s ranked No. 15 now. We’re looking for top-5 guys, guys that are going from 15 to 1, not the other way around. But I’m honestly happy for Benson. I’m not angry. Who knows? This could be the last contract he ever signs. He got the right deal for him. He’s a great guy, and we wish him all the best.”
