B/R MMA Round Table: Breaking Down Benson Henderson's Move to Bellator
On Monday, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson announced his move to the Bellator promotion.
The move was not terribly surprising; Henderson was always clear about his intention to explore free agency after his UFC contract expired.
"I'm beyond excited for this next phase of my career," Henderson said on his personal website, where he broke the news. "It's a big move, like any move when switching employers or jobs after having worked somewhere for such a long time."
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"#TheMovehttps://t.co/QknDQBsvYx#TheOnceAndFutureKing
— TheOnceAndFutureKing (@BensonHenderson) February 1, 2016"
A big move indeed, with implications in and out of the cage. Now that we've had a day to digest the news, a round table of Bleacher Report MMA writers convened to discuss.
Steven Rondina
This news both is and isn't surprising.
For the most part, the UFC has done a good job of locking down fighters who still have something left to offer the company. Sure, Phil Davis joining Bellator made waves, but it's important to remember that title-relevant guys such as Chad Mendes and Gilbert Melendez both toyed with free agency, only to re-up with the UFC.
Henderson, unlike every other person to wave goodbye to Dana White, left the promotion as a top-10 name (in the B/R MMA rankings, at least) coming off back-to-back wins with a clear path to the UFC title. That's something we haven't seen since Dan Henderson left the UFC for Strikeforce back in 2009.
On the other hand, we've seen a major shift in terms of how fighters view the UFC. At one point, the promotion had a firm grasp on the sport's throat, but over the past 12 months, we've seen fighters young and old pass on UFC contract offers. Perhaps more importantly, we've seen names like Jose Aldo, Miesha Tate and Frankie Edgar publicly vent their frustration with the company. It was only a matter of time before somebody up and left the UFC, and Henderson might just be the first of many to do so.
With that in mind, I turn to you two. What are your thoughts and feelings on this news?
Nathan McCarter
The move was expected. That about sums up my feelings toward Henderson's signing.
What does it mean? I don't think it means much at all. Will more fighters test the market? Sure, but Henderson's exit doesn't mean the UFC is starting to lose ground or that Bellator is starting to gain it. All it means is that Henderson isn't that valuable to the UFC.
We already saw this happen with Phil Davis. Henderson isn't the first.
Henderson would have bolstered UFC undercards and headlined Fight Nights on TV, but he was never a pay-per-view draw and was never going to touch that headlining spot again. The lightweight division is too deep, and welterweight is too good at the top end. He would have been a top-five gatekeeper.
The UFC won't be hurt by this, and both Bendo and Bellator benefit. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't feel as if this is anything significant in what it means for MMA and free agency. But perhaps that's because Henderson just doesn't move the needle.
Scott Harris
There are two branches to this: the "political" side of it, if you will, and the side that has to do with actual MMA.
Let's take the second one first. Henderson isn't a title contender right now, and even when he was, he wasn't the most exciting or lovable competitor. He's a world-class athlete with a nicely blended skill set, but clinching and leg kicks and takedown defense, repeated ad nauseam like square-dance steps, are not going to win legions of fans.
Still, this is probably the best fighter to make this particular leap, and he'll jump right into Bellator's best division. Matchups with champ Will Brooks, Michael Chandler and even phenom Michael Page loom as possibilities. Henderson won't do this in a vacuum, and that's a good thing for him and for viewers. No one knows how this will look, but it has a lot of potential.
At the same time, let us be what the teens call real. If the defection wasn't so rife with meaning, if it wasn't the latest and greatest free-agency broadside against the suddenly and increasingly less-monolithic-seeming UFC, this would be a lot less exciting. One imagines the transition and its larger implications have a lot to do with Henderson's newfound (if potentially fleeting) status as a fan favorite and perceived world-beater.
The difference between these two branches is that Henderson's prospects for competitive success in Bellator are promising but uncertain, whereas the meaning of the new partnership is crystal clear. No, Henderson isn't Jon Jones, but he's a heck of a lot more compelling than Cheick Kongo.
This is what change looks like. One small step for MMA, a giant leap for fighter-kind.
Steven Rondina
Bendo joining Bellator has been met with a level of positivity I wasn't expecting, but with that positivity has been an overestimation of what this means for MMA as a whole. As Scott alluded to, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta won't be sweating over this hot MMA free agent marketplace until they're fighting to keep a Conor McGregor or Brock Lesnar-type draw out of the circular cage. Bendo? He's got something going on, sure, but he's not close to that level.
What's more, anybody that sees this as a turning point for Bellator in any way needs to take a deep breath. Henderson fills a number of Bellator's needs, is a generally exciting fighter and is a recognizable player for a welterweight division that is long on talent but short on name value. This isn't a sign that Bellator is changing its approach to MMA, it doesn't mean that Bellator is going to be a seriously player for every free agent that comes up and it certainly doesn't mean that the sky is falling on the UFC.
From a business perspective, the message here is twofold. First, the Reebok deal remains a legitimate issue with fighters and it is, as many predicted it would, making it difficult for the UFC to retain some of its higher-end talent. Second, it shows that competing in the UFC is officially no longer the most lucrative option available for fighters once they reach a certain level and the moniker of being a "UFC Fighter" doesn't mean all that much without it. Unless those two things change, the UFC may end up having serious problems in the long-term.
From a fan's perspective, it's something of a wake-up call when it comes to the Bellator roster. There was a whole mess of fantasy booking when Henderson first broke the news and fans were clamoring for fights with anyone from Will Brooks to Paul Daley to Michael Page. That's a strong testament to how good Bellator is at promoting their own fighters and a damning indictment of the UFC.
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