Benson Henderson was looking to make a statement in the main event of Bellator 196 and he did just that, putting forth a dominant performance to defeat Roger Huerta by second-round decision. It was Henderson’s first finish since 2015 and it snaps a two-fight losing streak.
Henderson has a tendency of starting slow, but he took the center of the cage on was aggressive early. He landed a big head kick in the first round that hurt Huerta and landed some hard knees to the body when they clinched. Huerta looked to take the fight to the ground but Henderson defended well and was able to reverse position. Huerta came out more aggressively in the second round, but eventually Henderson tripped him and got the fight to the ground. In the scramble, Henderson was able to lock up a tight guillotine choke and Huerta was forced to tap.
Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion, had been 1-3 in his two years since joining Bellator. He will now look to get back into title contention.
Full results from the Main Card can be found below:
– Ben Henderson def. Roger Huerta via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:49 of Round 2
– Adam Borics def. Teodor Nikolov via knockout (flying knee) at 1:30 of Round 2
– Denise Kielholtz def. Petra Castkova via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
– Brian Moore vs. Giorgio Belsanti via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:46 of Round 1
– Ed Ruth def. Ion Pascu via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
