Bellator 153 highlights: Benson Henderson falters, and Michael Page taunts after toehold

Benson Henderson’s heavily promoted Bellator debut didn’t go as planned – not for him, anyway.

Henderson (23-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), a former UFC and WEC champion, was a 2-1 favorite over reigning welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (19-1 MMA, 11-1 BMMA), who ultimately scored a shutout unanimous-decision victory to earn his most pivotal win to date.

Check out highlights of the fight, which aired on Spike from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., above.

Koreshkov wasn’t the only big winner, though. In the co-headliner, former featherweight champ Patricio Freire (25-3 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) submitted late-replacement opponent Henry Corrales (12-3 MMA, 0-3 BMMA) with a deep guillotine choke in his first fight since losing the title.

Elsewhere on the card, veteran Evangelista Santos (21-16 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) quickly tapped out welterweight Brennan Ward (13-4 MMA, 8-3 BMMA), and lightweight Brent Primus (7-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) earned a questionable split-decision win over Gleristone Santos (27-6 MMA, 0-2 BMMA).

In the night’s opener, welterweight showman and striker Michael Page (10-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) used a toehold to submit – and then taunt – Jeremy Holloway (7-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA), who irked the Englishman with some potential illegal kicks before the fight-ending tap-out.

For more on Bellator 153, including a full event recap, check out the MMA Events section of the site.