Benson Henderson Victorious In Bellator 160 After ‘Pitbull’ Freire Gives Up Mid-Fight


Benson Henderson beat out Patricio “Pitbull” Freire via TKO at Bellator 160 after Freire signaled he couldn’t go on midway through the second round. According to Sherdog, Benson and “Pitbull” were in a clinch in which Henderson was clamping Freire’s lower leg between his shins. After the two fighters separated and Freire unloaded a flurry of punches on Henderson, “Pitbull” suddenly turned away from Benson and signaled to referee John McCarthy that he was unable to continue.

This was Henderson’s second fight and first win since transitioning from the UFC in February of this year. Benson is a former UFC Lightweight Champion who lost his belt to rival Anthony Pettis, the same man who beat Henderson to win the WEC Lightweight Championship.

Upon transitioning to Bellator, Henderson attempted to change weight classes by moving up to welterweight. Benson’s loss found the fighter once again moving back to lightweight to face Freire.

The fight between Freire and Henderson was expected to be an intense one as both men were competing for a shot at the Bellator Lightweight title. Freire came into the fight with a record of 25 wins and four losses. Henderson was coming with a record of 24 wins and six losses.

According to MMA Junkie, Henderson was ineffective with his game plan for the first portion of the fight and most analysts had Freire winning. Until the clinch, Benson appeared to be “lost.” Bellator confirmed that Freire’s shin was broken, most likely from the leg clamp Henderson had in the clinch.

Despite the lackluster performance by Benson Henderson, Bellator announced at their post fight press conference that Henderson would be facing current Bellator Lightweight Champion Mike Chandler in November.

Benson Henderson caused some waves in the MMA world with his departure from the UFC in February, leaving many to wonder if fellow UFC fighters would follow suit due to the constant scrutiny of the UFC’s tendency to underpay its fighters. Benson told MMA Junkie in February that he had received many texts and phone calls from UFC free agents asking for Henderson’s advice about the possibility of changing to Bellator.

At the time, the UFC President Dana White tried to shrug off Henderson’s move.

“The truth is we made him (Henderson) an offer that would have paid him substantially more – 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,” White told MMA Junkie after Benson announced his new deal with Bellator.

Henderson took White’s criticism in stride, stating that one thing Dana had neglected to point out was Benson’s unusual position of being ranked in two different weight classes.

Benson Henderson (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
Benson Henderson [AP Photo/Gregory Payan]
Despite the victory for Henderson in his bout versus Freire, Benson found himself the subject of boos from the crowd during his post fight interview in the ring. In fact, it was the announcement of another fellow former UFC fighter signing with Bellator that seemed to steal the show from Henderson. Canadian fighter Rory MacDonald officially announced he would be joining Benson on the Bellator team. MacDonald, like Henderson, also has the rare ability to fight in two separate weight classes.

Despite the rough crowd, Benson Henderson remained the class act he always has been by thanking his opponent and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Hopefully for the Bellator championship in November, we will see the spark return to Henderson’s fight game.

[Photo by Gregory Payan/AP]

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