Benson Henderson laid down his gloves in the octagon and announced his retirement from MMA after being submitted in the first round by Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 292. The former UFC lightweight champion retired with a professional record of 42-30-12.
Usman Nurmagomedov kept the family name flying high at the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarter-finals by stopping his opponent with a rear-naked choke after a question mark kick floored the former UFC champion in the opening minutes.
Benson Henderson announced his retirement after the bout, leaving his gloves inside the cage. In his post-fight octagon interview, ‘Smooth’ gave an emotional farewell speech:
“To the whole world, thank you guys for all the love and all the support throughout my career. I always told myself… If I lose at all in these last four fights [in Bellator], then it’s about that time. I’ve had a nice long run, and I’ve done a lot of great things… Thank you to everybody around the world.”
Watch the full post-fight octagon interview below:
Benson Henderson was submitted for only the second time in nine years and had his two-fight winning streak snapped by Nurmagomedov. The Arizona native had three consecutive UFC lightweight title defenses in 2012 and 2013, tied for the record with BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The 39-year-old is also a former WEC lightweight champion.
Henderson retired with a long resume of accolades, with wins over fighters like Frankie Edgar, Josh Thomson, Nate Diaz, Frankie Edgar, Jim Miller, Clay Guida, Donald Cerrone, and Patricio Freire.
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