Benson Henderson's first fight as a Bellator man will be for gold. Henderson, the former UFC and WEC lightweight champion, is slated to debut April 22 at Bellator 153 against reigning welterweight titleholder Andrey Koreshkov, MMA Fighting confirmed Tuesday following an initial report from ESPN.
Henderson (23-5) this week became the latest and most high-profile free agent to make the leap from the UFC to the Bellator cage. The 32-year-old cited the UFC-Reebok deal along with other "intangibles" as the driving force behind his decision, adding that although the UFC made a "strong offer" to keep him, it was actually third in line behind the offers made by Bellator and Singapore's ONE Championship.