Bellator officials have announced that newly signed Bellator welterweight Ben Henderson will receive a title shot in his Bellator debut at Bellator 153.
On the heels of what is one of the biggest free agent moves in mixed martial arts history, the man at the center of the shift, Benson Henderson (23-5), now has a debut date.Today, Bellator MMA is pleased to announce that “Smooth” will compete for welterweight gold against current champion Andrey Koreshkov(18-1) at the newly announced “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” card on April 22 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Tickets for “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” start at just $30 and go on sale this Friday, February 5 at Bellator.com, Ticketmaster.com and the Mohegan Sun Box Office. A special presale offer for Bellator Nation members will be available starting Wednesday, February 3.
“Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” airs live and free on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live onBellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App. Additional contests will be announced in the coming weeks.
We wrote yesterday after the news broke that Ben Henderson was likely going to make more money in Bellator due to the way they allow different sponsors unlike the UFC. That turned out to be true based on a statement issued by Henderson earlier today. Henderson getting an immediate title shot probably didn’t hurt negotiations either since he wasn’t really close to earning a welterweight title shot in the UFC even though he had won his last two fights there as a welterweight.
If Henderson wins, what does that say about the quality of competition in Bellator?