Benson Henderson on his time with Bellator: “They paid me a lot of money. I should have done a better job for Bellator”

Benson Henderson, 38, has been competing for Bellator MMA in the lightweight division and is currently ranked at #3.

Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion (28-11 MMA) fought Islam Mamedov (20-1 MMA) at Bellator 273, last Saturday, January 29th in Phoenix, Arizona. The result was Henderson defeating Mamedov by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

This was Henderson’s last fight on his Bellator contract and many wondered if ‘Bendo’ would call it quits following his hometown win.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Benson Henderson shared the following comments about his future with Bellator.

“I want to re-sign with Bellator. I want to get a Bellator belt around my waist.” Henderson said. “I feel bad for Bellator. I feel like I underperformed my contract for Bellator. They paid me a lot of money. I should have done a better job for Bellator.”

It is not known if he will re-sign, retire or try something else. Perhaps a stint with Eagle FC?

Speaking at the post-fight press conference to ‘MMA Junkie‘, Henderson commented:

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be doing this for Bellator, so I wanted to soak it all in, I’m not sure if this is going to be my last fight or not, so I wanted to enjoy it, wanted to enjoy the ‘W,’ enjoy getting my hand raised. I might keep going, I might not, so we’ll find out.”

Continuing, Benson Henderson said:

“This is my last fight on my deal with Bellator. They pay me a lot of money, and I might have under-fought my contract. Going into the renegotiations, I’m not sure how they’re going to treat me. We’ll see. We’ll find out. But I do know if this was the last one, it was a great way to go out. … I would like to continue fighting, but all the things have to line up.”

Would you like to see Benson Henderson renew his contract with Bellator? If he chooses not to retire, who would you like to see ‘Smooth’ fight next? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!