Ben Henderson Says Bellator MMA Career Marred By ACL Injury
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson hasn’t had the best of times in Bellator MMA, achieving a record of 1-2-0 in the promotion. According to Henderson, it has been a torn ACL that has been negatively impacting his time in the promotion.
"I've had a torn ACL in all of my Bellator fights," Henderson said to Brett Okamoto. "I got the MRI back (after his fight with Koreshkov) and the doctor said it was a torn ACL, completely ruptured. It felt fine, though. I passed all the tests. I ran, jumped, cut left and right. Doctors said, 'If you can do that, there's nothing saying you have to have surgery. We can't tell you to have surgery.' I tested it again against (Patricio Freire in August) and hurt it some more. Then against Chandler, I actually hurt it a couple more times during training. My coaches and my wife said I probably shouldn't take the fight, or I at least had to have surgery after. So, I was told by my wife I had to have ACL surgery, and that's what I'm doing."
Henderson’s last fight in the promotion was a decision loss to lightweight champion Michael Chandler. He stated that he would like to test himself against the champion once he is healthy.
"I will fight Chandler again and I will make him quit," Henderson said. "He was pretty damn close to quitting the last time. Next time, I'll make him quit all the way."
Henderson’s lone victory in the promotion came over former featherweight champion Patricio Freire, while he has suffered defeats to the aforementioned Michael Chandler and former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov.
