Not for the closeness of the final outcome, but for the amount of dominance put forth by Andrey Koreshkov on Benson Henderson back at Bellator 153, the two receive top honors so far in 2016….
Not for the closeness of the final outcome, but for the amount of dominance put forth by Andrey Koreshkov on Benson Henderson back at Bellator 153, the two receive top honors so far in 2016.
Koreshkov entered as the welterweight champion, but few outside of his camp and friends felt he would leave the Mohegan Sun Arena on April 22 with the title still around his waist.
In an effort to get closer to the UFC, Bellator MMA and president Scott Coker opened up the checkbook and signed Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion to a multi-fight deal. Before he left the UFC, Henderson had started competing at welterweight, so the decision to pair him with Koreshkov was an easy one.
But nothing came easy for “Smooth” on this night.
Koreshkov, a 25-year-old from Russia who won gold at the 2010 World Combat Games in Pankration, picked up his sixth consecutive win since a 2013 loss to then-Bellator champ Ben Askren.
Other consideration went to Phil Davis-Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Pat Curran-Georgi Karakhanyan and Matt Mitrione-Carl Seumanutafa.
Bellator MMA officials are in the process of finding a new opponent for Michael “Venom” Page for their upcoming Bellator 158 event in Page’s hometown of London, England.
Page, known to MMA fans as MVP, was originally scheduled to fight Fernando Gonz…
Bellator MMA officials are in the process of finding a new opponent for Michael “Venom” Page for their upcoming Bellator 158 event in Page’s hometown of London, England.
Page, known to MMA fans as MVP, was originally scheduled to fight Fernando Gonzalez on the card, which is scheduled to take place in July, however Gonzalez has pulled out of the fight due to visa issues.
According to MMAFighting.com, Bellator MMA officials are “actively seeking an opponent” for Page to ensure that he remains on the card.
Page sports a perfect 10-0 professional MMA record, with nine finishes in his ten pro fights. He has amassed an unblemished 5-0 record while fighting under the Bellator banner, with his most recent victory coming by way of first-round submission over Jeremie Holloway at Bellator 153.
Headlined by Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson II, Bellator 158 is scheduled to take place on July 16, 2016 at the O2 Arena in London, England, and will air live on Spike TV.
Go behind-the-scenes of Bellator 153 in the latest edition of “UNCUT.”
Featured are looks at the locker rooms of Benson Henderson, Brennan Ward, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov.
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Go behind-the-scenes of Bellator 153 in the latest edition of “UNCUT.”
Featured are looks at the locker rooms of Benson Henderson, Brennan Ward, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov.
While the final decision will ultimately be up to Benson Henderson himself, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker made it clear that he has no problem with :”Smooth” Henderson remaining a 170-pound fighter under the Bellator umbrella if that’s what he cho…
While the final decision will ultimately be up to Benson Henderson himself, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker made it clear that he has no problem with :”Smooth” Henderson remaining a 170-pound fighter under the Bellator umbrella if that’s what he chooses to do after his crushing defeat in his promotional debut this past Friday evening.
Henderson was beaten down in a one-sided fight against Bellator 170-pound champion Andrei Koreshkov this past Friday night at the Bellator 153 event at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, a show that aired live on Spike TV.
After the event, Coker took part in a media scrum and discussed his thoughts on the Henderson-Koreshkov fight, as well as what’s next for the former UFC Lightweight Champion.
Regarding the fight itself, Coker said it was clear that Henderson was on the wrong side of a one-sided fight.
“It was a tough fight man. Benson took a lot of shots. Even from the very beginning he looked like he was a foot shorter than Koreshkov. Koreshkov is no joke, man. He’s got a lot of power, and everything is hard. He hits hard with every shot. You saw the fight, it was clearly one-sided. So we’ll see what Benson wants to do next.”
As far as the decision to fight a 170-pound champion in his debut, despite the fact that he spent the majority of his career at 155-pounds, the same weight class he won a world title at in the UFC, Coker claimed it was Henderson’s choice.
“That was really his choice. He wanted to fight at 170, so we said fine. But he wanted to fight Koreshkov. Now I think he’s going to get together with his coach and see what’s probably best for his next step. Can he fight guys at 170? Yeah, but Koreshkov’s just a big man. He’s super-strong and he hits hard. I’m not sure what Benson could have done differently. He took a lot of shots and he didn’t have an answer for any of the offensive weapons that Koreshkov had.”
While Coker made it clear that Benson can remain at 170 pounds if he would like to, he did share his belief that he would probably have better success if he were to fight at 155 pounds again.
“A fight’s a fight, anything can happen. You could see his punches were short all-night long. And that reach that Koreshkov has, I don’t think he had an answer for that. I think Benson really had a lot of his better fights at 155, but that’s really is choice.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Scott Coker quotes.
On Friday, April 22, 2016, Bellator MMA held their Bellator 153 event, which featured the promotional debut of former UFC Lightweight Champion and world-ranked 170-pound contender Benson Henderson.
In the evening’s main event, “Smooth” Henderson mak…
On Friday, April 22, 2016, Bellator MMA held their Bellator 153 event, which featured the promotional debut of former UFC Lightweight Champion and world-ranked 170-pound contender Benson Henderson.
In the evening’s main event, “Smooth” Henderson makes his Bellator debut, as he gets an immediate shot at the Bellator Welterweight Champion Andrei Koreshkov. Also on the card is fan-favorite Michael “Venom” Page (aka “M.V.P.”) vs. Jeremie Holloway, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Henry Corrales, Brennan Ward vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and Brent Primus vs. Gleristone Santos.
Bellator 153: Henderson vs. Koreshkov took place live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Below are quick-match results of the entire event.
Bellator 153 Preliminary Card Results
Mike Zichelle vs. Joe Cronin (In Progress Now …)
Chris Honeycutt def. Matt Secor via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)
Djamil Chan def. Richard Patishnock via KO (strike) at 3:09 of round 1
STILL TO COME …
Bellator 153 Preliminary Card
Sam Watford vs. Dean Hancock
Chris Foster vs. Vovka Clay
Matt Bessette vs. Keith Richardson
Tim Caron vs. Justin Sumter
Blair Tugman vs. Jay Perrin
Bellator 153 Main Card
Andrey Koreshkov (c) vs. Benson Henderson
Patricio Freire vs. Henry Corrales
Brennan Ward vs. Evangelista Santos
Michael Page vs. Jeremie Holloway
Brent Primus vs. Gleristone Santos
