Benson Henderson explains why he ended his retirement to sign with Misfits Boxing: “It’s time for me to go have fun”
Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is enjoying his time in retirement ahead of his boxing debut.
‘Smooth’ has been out of the cage since facing Usman Nurmagomedov last March at Bellator 292. With the lightweight title on the line, Benson Henderson was brutally finished in the first round. Following the defeat, the longtime fan favorite laid his gloves down on the mat and retired from MMA.
However, while Benson Henderson is retired from MMA, he’s not retired from competing. In December, the former UFC champion signed with Karate Combat for a trilogy bout with Anthony Pettis. There, ‘Showtime’ handed his rival yet another decision loss. Nine months removed from that defeat, Henderson is set to fight again.
Earlier this year, Benson Henderson signed with KSI’s Misfits Boxing. Tomorrow in England, the former UFC champion will face fellow MMA fighter Chris Avila in a light-heavyweight bout. If Henderson gets through the Stockton native, he will face the winner of another bout on the card, Idris Virgo vs. Fes Batista.
Former UFC champion Benson Henderson opens up on MMA retirement, Misfits Boxing debut
Speaking in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Benson Henderson opened up on his decision to move to the boxing ring. There, the 40-year-old admitted that he’s far more focused on coaching his wife than himself these days. However, Henderson still likes to compete, and he’s down for the occasional one-off bout.
“I’m enjoying retirement,” Benson Henderson said. “I’m enjoying having time to pick and choose what I do. I love to go do Polaris [grappling] some more, I’d love to do ADCC, go do all the grappling tournaments. Have fun with that Combat jiu-jitsu hit me up, me and Joe Riggs are going to go be on a card. Karate Combat. It’s nice to pick and choose, still train hard, still train to be the best in the world but now I’m not training seven days, 365 days a year. Now I’m training for a month before a boxing match… I trained really hard to be the best in the world but now it’s my wife’s turn, now it’s Maria’s turn to train 100 percent seriously.”
He continued, “…The one-offs for me, whether it’s Misfits Boxing or Polaris or Eddie Bravo or [Combat Jiu-Jitsu] or whatever the case may be, it’s time for me to go have fun. To get after it. To go lay it on the line and do my thing.” (h/t MMA Fighting)
What do you make of these comments from the former UFC champion? Will you watch Benson Henderson’s Misfits Boxing debut this weekend?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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