No matter how it came about, Benson Henderson’s hand was raised as the winner Friday night in the main event of Bellator 160.
Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion who lost his Bellator debut earlier this year to welterweight titleholder Andr…
No matter how it came about, Benson Henderson’s hand was raised as the winner Friday night in the main event of Bellator 160.
Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion who lost his Bellator debut earlier this year to welterweight titleholder Andrey Koreshkov, was awarded a second round TKO victory vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire after Freire suffered a broken shin.
Next up for “Smooth” will be Bellator champion Michael Chandler, who sat cage-side for the bout.
The co-main event went to the scorecards, as Derek Anderson defeated Saad Awad, while Georgi Karakhanyan made it 2-for-2 vs. Bubba Jenkins with a knockout in just 54 seconds.
Benson Henderson def. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire via TKO (leg injury) at 2:26 of Round 2
Derek Anderson def. Saad Awad via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bubba Jenkins via KO (strike) at :53 of Round 1
A.J. McKee def. Cody Walker via submission (guillotine choke) at :32 of Round 2
Joey Davis def. Keith Cutrone via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Gabriel Green def. Alex Trinidad via TKO (strikes) at 2:01 of Round 2
Andy Murad def. Johnny Cisneros via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jacob Rosales def. Mike Segura via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Chinzo Machida def. Mario Navarro via TKO (strikes) at 2:57 of Round 1
Jake Roberts def. Stephen Martinez via TKO (strikes) at 4:24 of Round 1
Bellator 160 is here, and it goes down today from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The prelims will air on Spike TV.com at 7:50 p.m. ET while the main card will air on Spike TV at 10 p.m. ET. Benson Henderson vs. Patricio Freire will headline this event in a lightweight bout while the
Bellator 160 is here, and it goes down today from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The prelims will air on Spike TV.com at 7:50 p.m. ET while the main card will air on Spike TV at 10 p.m. ET.
Benson Henderson vs. Patricio Freire will headline this event in a lightweight bout while the co-main event will be Derek Anderson vs. Saad Awad in a featherweight bout. Rounding out the main card is Bubba Jenkins vs. Georgi Karakhanyan in a lightweight bout and A.J. McKee vs. Cody Walker in a featherweight bout.
According to oddsmakers, Henderson is a -235 favorite over Freire, who is a +195 underdog. Other odds for the main card include Awad being a +125 underdog against Anderson, who is a -145 favorite.
Here are the betting odds for the main card:
Lightweight bout: Bubba Jenkins vs. Georgi Karakhanyan
Cody Walker+475Over 1½ +110
AJ McKee-650Under 1½ -130
Lightweight bout: Bubba Jenkins vs. Georgi Karakhanyan
Georgi Karakhanyan+130Over 2½ -175
Bubba Jenkins-150Under 2½ +155
Featherweight bout: Derek Anderson vs. Saad Awad
Saad Awad+125Over 1½ -185
Derek Anderson-145Under 1½ +160
Lightweight bout: Benson Henderson vs. Patricio Freire
Check out complete weigh-in results for Friday night’s Bellator 160 card.
The event features Benson Henderson and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event with the winner moving on t…
Check out complete weigh-in results for Friday night’s Bellator 160 card.
The event features Benson Henderson and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event with the winner moving on to challenge Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.
The action starts on Spike TV at 10 p.m. ET following online prelims.
MAIN CARD (Spike TV/10 p.m. ET)
Benson Henderson (156 lbs.) vs. Patricio Freire (155.4)
Derek Anderson (155.6) vs. Saad Awad (155.5)
Bubba Jenkins (146.8) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (149)
Count Benson Henderson among those forming a line behind Mark Hunt and others to get a union for MMA fighters.
Hunt, who has become more out-spoken in recent days after his fight with Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, has stated he will be the one to get the…
Count Benson Henderson among those forming a line behind Mark Hunt and others to get a union for MMA fighters.
Hunt, who has become more out-spoken in recent days after his fight with Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, has stated he will be the one to get the union of fighters formed.
And Henderson wants to join.
“I 100-percent support Mark Hunt, everything he’s doing and talking about,” Henderson told MMA Fighting. “I think it’s a long time coming. It should have been here a long time ago.”
Former fighters Cung Le and Jon Fitch have been another guiding force for the unionization, but if the likes of current fighters Henderson and Hunt take a step forward, it could become a reality much quicker.
“There are a lot of other guys, Cung Le, Jon Fitch, there have been guys who have talked about it for a long time,” Henderson said. “I show my support and solidarity with those guys. As a mixed martial artist, I definitely support them.”
Henderson opted to sign with Bellator MMA once his UFC contract was complete. He returns to the cage next month vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 160 in a title-eliminator.
Since former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar failed both in and out-of competition drug tests in conjunction with his UFC 200 win over Mark Hunt for an estrogen blocker, “The Super Samoan” has been not surprisingly making a ton of noise about the sticky situation. The fan favorite knockout artist first called out for half
Since former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar failed both in and out-of competition drug tests in conjunction with his UFC 200 win over Mark Hunt for an estrogen blocker, “The Super Samoan” has been not surprisingly making a ton of noise about the sticky situation.
The fan favorite knockout artist first called out for half of Lesnar’s $2.5 million purse, then all of it, declared he would attempt to organize a fighter’s union (an increasingly discussed avenue in today’s MMA universe), and finally, topped it all off with a profanity-laced outburst to Ariel Helwani on this week’s edition of The MMA Hour.
News came that the UFC had apparently contacted Hunt and had a ‘positive’ conversation, but it’s tough to think the hatchet was completely buried. And although it’s a more than difficult prospect to organize a fighter’s union in MMA, one prominent figure is willing to support “The Super Samoan” all the way.
Currently fighting in Bellator, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson told MMA Fighting that he is all for Hunt’s efforts, as it’s something that should have been implemented a long time ago:
“I 100 percent support Mark Hunt, everything he’s doing and talking about. I think it’s a long time coming, it should have been here a long time ago.”
“Smooth” was at the center of negotiations with the UFC when his contract ran out, and he found he was more valued by Bellator. It was big news when Henderson left the UFC, because he’d been one of their most consistent fighters, often willing to fight anyone on short notice to save an event.
With fighter pay and treatment currently at the forefront of MMA discussion, Henderson also cited his support the current antitrust lawsuit being levied at the UFC by former fighters:
“There are a lot of other guys, Cung Le, Jon Fitch, there have been guys who have talked about it for a long time,” Henderson said. “I show my support and solidarity with those guys. As a mixed martial artist, I definitely support them.”
And while it’s been mostly all talk up to this point, Representative Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma – a former MMA fighter himself – has proposed a bill to Congress to introduce the Muhammad Ali Act to MMA as a segway to fair treatment for MMA competitors everywhere. Henderson sees this as a necessary transition for MMA fighters to get what they’re worth, and believes they should have been more intelligent before only now fighting for their rights:
“Boxers are used to it. They know they are supposed to get this and supposed to get that, and what it’s supposed to be like and how it is supposed to be conducted. Us, as mixed martial artists, we’re finally getting like, ‘oh yeah, we should make this much money.’ NFL, they had a lockout so that they could get 51 percent of the total gross revenue. Us fighters, we get, like, seven percent, maybe seven percent of gross revenues. So, us as athletes, we’re not that smart and it took us awhile to get our act together.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Bellator MMA officials announced a couple of additional fights for their upcoming Bellator 160 card.
Scheduled to go down on August 27th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Bellator 160 features former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson against highly-regarded contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event.
Below is the latest press release, which Bellator issued this afternoon, which confirms the pro MMA debut of Kimbo Slice’s son, Kevin Ferguson Jr., as well as the addition of some new fights.
SAAD AWAD-DEREK ANDERSON SET FOR ‘BELLATOR 160’ MAIN CARD ACTION AT HONDA CENTER IN ANAHEIM
COMPTON’S JOEY DAVIS AND ‘BABY SLICE’ KEVIN FERGUSON JR. TO ANCHOR BELLATOR.COM-STREAMED PRELIMINARY CARD
SANTA MONICA, CALIF (July, 26) – A lightweight bout pitting Saad Awad (19-7) against Derek Anderson (13-2) has been added to the main card of the recently announced “Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” event on August 26 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
In addition, the highly-anticipated professional debuts of wrestling sensation Joey Davis and “Baby Slice” Kevin Ferguson Jr. are set for must-see preliminary action against opponents to be named later.
“Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” takes place on August 26 from Anaheim California’s Honda Center, and will air LIVE and FREE on SPIKE at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.
Tickets for the event start at just $30 and can be purchased now on Ticketmaster and at the Honda Center Box Office. Doors for the event open at 4:45 p.m. PT local time and the first preliminary bout – which streams live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App — begins at 5:00 p.m. PT. Additional contests will be announced in the coming weeks.
The lightweight encounter joins a card that already features another stellar 155-pound affair in the main event, when Benson Henderson (23-6) goes up against Patricio “Pitbull” (25-3). Additionally, two standout featherweight fights have also been announced, seeing the young and undefeated A.J. McKee (4-0) meet former KOTC titlist Henry Corrales (12-3) and NCAA National Champion Wrestler Bubba Jenkins (11-2) take on Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (24-6-1).
An 11-fight veteran of Bellator MMA, Awad is currently in the midst of his second stint with the Scott Coker-led promotion, posting a 7-4 mark since making his promotional debut in 2009. Awad hopes to build off his impressive win over Brazilian standout Evangelista “Cyborg” at “Bellator 154: Davis vs. King Mo,” where “Assassin” was able to escape Santos’ ferocious ankle lock submission attempt and emerge victorious with a series of pummeling blows. Now the 33-year-old San Bernardino, Calif. native will look to put his unique skillset on full display in front of his friends and family when he enters the cage in Anaheim, Calif.
Similar to his opponent, Anderson was able to make a name for himself early in his professional career, exploding out of the gate with victories in 11 of his first 12 bouts. During his Bellator MMA debut in 2013, “Barbaric” earned a win over the savvy veteran Patricky “Pitbull.” Since then, the 26-year-old Anderson has made five more appearances under the promotion’s direction, including a second victory over the elder “Pitbull” brother. Also hailing from the Southern California area, Anderson expects to have a large hometown following of his own in attendance on August 26.
Joey Davis is a 21-year-old standout wrestler, who competed at Notre Dame College where he accumulated an incredible undefeated 131-0 record and four consecutive NCAA Division II Championships, becoming the only Division II wrestler to ever win four national titles and go unbeaten in a career. The most recent signing of Bellator’s “New Breed,” a group of top wrestling products that the promotion has signed including Aaron Pico, Ed Ruth, Jarod Trice and Terrell Fortune, will be the first to make his promotional debut. Davis trains at Antonio McKee’s “Body Shop Gym” alongside other “Bellator 160” competitors A.J. McKee, Bubba Jenkins and “Baby Slice.”
Signed to a developmental deal in April, Ferguson Jr., also known as “Baby Slice” will anchor the Bellator.com-streamed preliminary card along with Davis, his aforementioned “Body Shop Gym” teammate. In an eerily similar storyline to the hit-movie “Creed,” the son of the late, great “Kimbo Slice,” quietly broke onto the scene earlier this year in an amateur bout that played out in Western Massachusetts, where he scored a knockout victory just 83 seconds into the first round. MMA reporter Chuck Mindenhall was on-site to cover the story.
“Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” SPIKE-Televised Main Card:
Bellator MMA Lightweight No. 1 Contender Main Event: Benson Henderson (23-6) vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (25-3)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Saad Awad (19-7) vs. Derek Anderson (13-2)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: A.J. McKee (4-0) vs. Henry Corrales (12-3)
Bellator.com-Streamed Preliminary Card:
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Joey Davis (Pro Debut) vs. TBD
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Kevin Ferguson Jr. (Pro Debut) vs. TBD
On Tuesday afternoon, Bellator MMA officials announced a couple of additional fights for their upcoming Bellator 160 card.
Scheduled to go down on August 27th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Bellator 160 features former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson against highly-regarded contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event.
Below is the latest press release, which Bellator issued this afternoon, which confirms the pro MMA debut of Kimbo Slice’s son, Kevin Ferguson Jr., as well as the addition of some new fights.
SAAD AWAD-DEREK ANDERSON SET FOR ‘BELLATOR 160’ MAIN CARD ACTION AT HONDA CENTER IN ANAHEIM
COMPTON’S JOEY DAVIS AND ‘BABY SLICE’ KEVIN FERGUSON JR. TO ANCHOR BELLATOR.COM-STREAMED PRELIMINARY CARD
SANTA MONICA, CALIF (July, 26) – A lightweight bout pitting Saad Awad (19-7) against Derek Anderson (13-2) has been added to the main card of the recently announced “Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” event on August 26 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
In addition, the highly-anticipated professional debuts of wrestling sensation Joey Davis and “Baby Slice” Kevin Ferguson Jr. are set for must-see preliminary action against opponents to be named later.
“Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” takes place on August 26 from Anaheim California’s Honda Center, and will air LIVE and FREE on SPIKE at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.
Tickets for the event start at just $30 and can be purchased now on Ticketmaster and at the Honda Center Box Office. Doors for the event open at 4:45 p.m. PT local time and the first preliminary bout – which streams live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App — begins at 5:00 p.m. PT. Additional contests will be announced in the coming weeks.
The lightweight encounter joins a card that already features another stellar 155-pound affair in the main event, when Benson Henderson (23-6) goes up against Patricio “Pitbull” (25-3). Additionally, two standout featherweight fights have also been announced, seeing the young and undefeated A.J. McKee (4-0) meet former KOTC titlist Henry Corrales (12-3) and NCAA National Champion Wrestler Bubba Jenkins (11-2) take on Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (24-6-1).
An 11-fight veteran of Bellator MMA, Awad is currently in the midst of his second stint with the Scott Coker-led promotion, posting a 7-4 mark since making his promotional debut in 2009. Awad hopes to build off his impressive win over Brazilian standout Evangelista “Cyborg” at “Bellator 154: Davis vs. King Mo,” where “Assassin” was able to escape Santos’ ferocious ankle lock submission attempt and emerge victorious with a series of pummeling blows. Now the 33-year-old San Bernardino, Calif. native will look to put his unique skillset on full display in front of his friends and family when he enters the cage in Anaheim, Calif.
Similar to his opponent, Anderson was able to make a name for himself early in his professional career, exploding out of the gate with victories in 11 of his first 12 bouts. During his Bellator MMA debut in 2013, “Barbaric” earned a win over the savvy veteran Patricky “Pitbull.” Since then, the 26-year-old Anderson has made five more appearances under the promotion’s direction, including a second victory over the elder “Pitbull” brother. Also hailing from the Southern California area, Anderson expects to have a large hometown following of his own in attendance on August 26.
Joey Davis is a 21-year-old standout wrestler, who competed at Notre Dame College where he accumulated an incredible undefeated 131-0 record and four consecutive NCAA Division II Championships, becoming the only Division II wrestler to ever win four national titles and go unbeaten in a career. The most recent signing of Bellator’s “New Breed,” a group of top wrestling products that the promotion has signed including Aaron Pico, Ed Ruth, Jarod Trice and Terrell Fortune, will be the first to make his promotional debut. Davis trains at Antonio McKee’s “Body Shop Gym” alongside other “Bellator 160” competitors A.J. McKee, Bubba Jenkins and “Baby Slice.”
Signed to a developmental deal in April, Ferguson Jr., also known as “Baby Slice” will anchor the Bellator.com-streamed preliminary card along with Davis, his aforementioned “Body Shop Gym” teammate. In an eerily similar storyline to the hit-movie “Creed,” the son of the late, great “Kimbo Slice,” quietly broke onto the scene earlier this year in an amateur bout that played out in Western Massachusetts, where he scored a knockout victory just 83 seconds into the first round. MMA reporter Chuck Mindenhall was on-site to cover the story.
“Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” SPIKE-Televised Main Card:
Bellator MMA Lightweight No. 1 Contender Main Event: Benson Henderson (23-6) vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (25-3)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Saad Awad (19-7) vs. Derek Anderson (13-2)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: A.J. McKee (4-0) vs. Henry Corrales (12-3)
Bellator.com-Streamed Preliminary Card:
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Joey Davis (Pro Debut) vs. TBD
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Kevin Ferguson Jr. (Pro Debut) vs. TBD
