At long last, Benson Henderson resembled his old self, submitting the returning Roger Huerta at Bellator 196 in Hungary.
The main event at Bellator 196 saw Benson Henderson back in the Bellator cage, taking on former UFC standout Roger Huerta. Huerta’s career, to this point, had the theme of missed opportunities. In Hungary at Bellator 196, Huerta was looking to make the most of his latest shot at glory. A win over the former UFC lightweight champ would frankly be huge. For Henderson, he was looking to return to form after a rough start to his Bellator career. The fight aired on Paramount Network on Friday.
Huerta caught a hard kick from Benson Henderson right off the opening bell, and it looked like we were in for a good one. Henderson looked focused and immediately launched a head kick that partially clipped Roger Huerta. Huerta moved to tie things up and buy recovery time. Henderson landed some knees to the thigh and took Huerta down; Huerta was bleeding badly from the earlier kick. However, he muscled his way back up, and looked for a takedown along the fence. Benson Henderson, however, was having none of it. From there, the pair settled down a little, but Henderson was doing real damage when he was on the attack, and clearly hand found his range. Huerta opened up with his kicks towards the end of the first round, but that was too little, too late. To add insult to injury, ‘Smooth’ added another head kick just before the bell.
Round two saw a much more active Roger Huerta working kicks early. Henderson then tripped Huerta up. Coming out of it, Benson Henderson caught Huerta in a guillotine, and in an instant, forced the tap! Benson Henderson, after struggling in his Bellator career thus far, finally looked like his old self!
Benson Henderson def. Roger Huerta by submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 0:49
