Had Benson Henderson Not Signed With Bellator...

[Thesnake101]

We would have gotten Koreshkov vs Ward for the belt, there was a poster made and all. Crazy to think that Brennan went from being on the doorstep of a second title shot to nigh irrelevancy in a year or so.

 

[AGEZ909]

ward would always shit the bed in big fights. he has washed out.

Bendo opened the door to fighters like larkin, mousasi, bader, and Rory Mac.

ive always liked bendo, although I rooted for pettis over him lol.

 

[Kinger85]

much happier we got what we did over that.

 

[bambammccoy]

ward would always shit the bed in big fights. he has washed out.

Bendo opened the door to fighters like larkin, mousasi, bader, and Rory Mac.

ive always liked bendo, although I rooted for pettis over him lol.

Took him getting flying kneed by RDA and outstruck and subbed by Pettis and his balls to step up and fight a then undefeated giant in thatch on short notice for me to like him lol

His split decisions drove me nuts. Gil beat him and I could give 2 fucks about Gil being champ or not, Frankie beat him as well. Those drove me nuts.

 

[ArmenianAssasin]

Ward is the bellator version of platinum Perry

 

[TheBrownRanger]

I literally thought about this the other day, holy shit. Ward would have gotten KO'd, no doubt. Ward wasn't really that big, even back then. He was coming off a good win over Ken Hasegawa in RIZIN and before that.........Dennis Olson and Roger Carroll. Even then, it kinda irked me that Bendo skipped the line.

We could have seen Koreshkov vs Ward if Cyborg didn't take his leg off.

I still remember when people swore Benson Henderson was going to be the first 2-division champion in Bellator. The "prime" and "unmotivated" excuses started rolling in once Henderson took that flying knee and he realized he wasn't in there with Brandon Thatch.

 

[Limit Smasher]

Kinda crazy how poorly Henderson has done in Bellator. He'd be 0-4 if it wasn't for that Pitbull injury.

 

[CC27]

Whats Bendo even doing? Does he have a fight lined up?

 

[Hardcore MMA]

Yup, Ward got screwed over big time by Bellator. Benson had no business fighting for the 170lb belt right away. Glad Koreshkov put Benson in his place back to 155.

And don't forget, Ward had recently moved back to 170 from 185. I think with his wrestling, Ward would have put up a good fight against Koreshkov.

Unfotunately Ward has had some bad luck since this card. This is where he got his already injured ankle screwed up even more by Cyborg, which put him out of commission for 6+ months. Then he came back and KOed Awad, but then got his lights knocked out by Daley a few months later which put him out of commission for almost a year. I hope to see Ward back in there soon since he's one of the most entertaining fighters on the Bellator roster. Bellator should schedule Ward vs Benson at 170.

 

[mkt]

If Bendo hadn't signed with Bellator, he'd have lost a few more UFC fights and ended up in Bellator (or a lesser org) anyway. He's been going steadily downhill since Pettis took his LW belt.

 

[mkt]

Kinda crazy how poorly Henderson has done in Bellator. He'd be 0-4 if it wasn't for that Pitbull injury.

Look at the way he fights now, though. It's like panic wrestling combined with panic striking (predictable superman punches; jumping in the pocket, getting hit, jumping out and repeating). I'm not sure what it is. Ever since he talked about enlisting in the military, he just hasn't fought with any sort of gameplan or purpose.

 

[Limit Smasher]

Look at the way he fights now, though. It's like panic wrestling combined with panic striking (predictable superman punches; jumping in the pocket, getting hit, jumping out and repeating). I'm not sure what it is. Ever since he talked about enlisting in the military, he just hasn't fought with any sort of gameplan or purpose.

He reminds me a lot of how Jorge Masvidal fights. They never turn it up. They just coast and fight at their opponents pace, trying to one up them in a minimal way. It's a really weird style.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Whats Bendo even doing? Does he have a fight lined up?

I saw him Grappling the other day. He is not a big draw anymore, if I was them I’ll save that money and signed a few guys with that $$$

 

[mkt]

He reminds me a lot of how Jorge Masvidal fights. They never turn it up. They just coast and fight at their opponents pace, trying to one up them in a minimal way. It's a really weird style.

Yeah, something has changed with Bendo, too. I remember him dominating Nate Diaz--I think that was his peak. He couldn't beat prime versions of Frankie or Gilbert Melendez fighting the way he does now. Granted, those were close fights and the decision could've gone either way...but still, he could hang with any LW 4 or 5 years ago.

 

[molest]

UFC were smart in letting him go, same with Davis and Bader, even Larkin is not setting the world on fire.
I think the UFC is very smart when it comes to which fighters they allow to leave, even Rory looks like he can no longer strike without getting hurt and is reduced to grappling.

 

[TrueBias]

Kinda crazy how poorly Henderson has done in Bellator. He'd be 0-4 if it wasn't for that Pitbull injury.

I noticed the drop in talent right after he spoke of retiring, confirming danas hypothesis about when a fighter us speaking about it, he should just do it.

 

[EndlessCritic]

koreshkov destroying benson was unbelievably satisfying. benson wasn't in that fight for a moment.