Benson Henderson let Bellator MMA know earlier this Fall that he was looking for a fight. Short notice, he told the promotion, was fine — just give him three weeks if it was going to be at 155lbs.
In the end, he got a text suggesting a 170lb fight against Jason Jackson. “I’m your huckleberry. Let’s do it,” was Henderson’s response to the short-notice fight.
The former UFC champion’s thought process was simple. “I want to stay as busy as possible. I know I’m no spring chicken. I don’t have another ten years left in this in this game, in this sport,” he said during the Bellator 253 media day this week. Henderson and Jackson serve as the card’s co-main event. Henderson, coming off a loss to Michael Chandler, knows that “I have maybe two more years left. I’d like to jam pack those two years with as many fights as I can, while I still can.”
On top of that, added Henderson, “knowing our society, knowing our 140 character attention span, knowing the twelve second attention span that we have as a society, the more you’re in your guy’s face, the more I’m in the fans’ face, the more Bellator’s higher ups, they see me perform and fight, the better chance a better shot I have of getting the title shot against Patricio Pitbull.
And that’s when Henderson wants. “I have to get that 155lb belt around my waist. I have to. And I will. It’s just a matter of time.”
Pitbull, of course, is tied up in the featherweight grand prix at the moment. But he also holds the promotion’s lightweight crown. Henderson isn’t sure if Pitbull will defend the title, or if he might one day fight for a vacant belt — “above my pay grade” was his response. But he did point out that “You’re not the champion till you defend it one time, so I think he needs to defend it once.”
As for his Bellator 253 opponent, Jason Jackson, Henderson noted that “I think he’s a good fight.” And while admittedly, “he doesn’t have the biggest name,” Henderson added that “he’s trying to make a name. And this is his chance for him to make his name. And so here’s your shot. Let’s find out Thursday night.”
Bellator 253 takes place Thursday, November 20 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Unvasville, CT. The main card airs live on CBS Sports Network.
