With time winding down on his career, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson wants to make the most of what is left
Henderson, who will meet Patricky Freire in Bellator 183’s headline bout on Sept. 23, is pragmatic about what he can do with the time he has left in the fight game:
“I don’t have too many more fights left in my body. I can fight for a certain period, and I want to get as many fights as I can in that timeframe,” Henderson told Sherdog.com. “I want to have four, five, six more fights in the next year. I want to get in; I want to get out. Because I’m not in my prime for that much longer, it’s in my head. So I want to make my time as worth it as possible.
“I want to get there and have as many more fights as I can get. That’s big fights at 170 [pounds] here, short-notice 170 here, fight for the title at 155. No problem. I’ll do all of it. I’m fully intending on working my ass off so if those opportunities present themselves, I shine.”
Despite previously claiming that he would retire at the age of 34, Henderson confirms that he has more than two months left in him:
“I have been on the record saying I want to retire before the age of 34. I turned 34 in November and I will not be retiring before then,” he said. “I do know I have a shorter period of time. I’m not going to be fighting til I’m 40. I won’t be fighting til I’m 39. I only have a limited amount of time left. I want to make that time as action-packed as possible.”
