Benson Henderson willing to save UFC 186, issues open call for opponents

Benson Henderson

UFC 186 lost its planned co-headliner earlier today, but former champion Benson Henderson is willing to save the day.

Henderson, a former lightweight titleholder who recently made a successful welterweight debut, today issued an open call for 170-pound opponents.

Henderson’s call came after Bellator MMA was granted a temporary injunction earlier today to prevent Quinton Jackson (35-11 MMA, 7-5 UFC) from fighting Fabio Maldonado (22-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) in UFC 186’s planned co-headliner.

As he wrote (via Twitter):

UFC 186 takes place in less than three weeks; Montreal’s Bell Centre hosts the pay-per-view card, which has already undergone a number of lineup changes, on April 25. A fight card already light on big-name talent is now down another notable name.

It’s unclear if Maldonado will receive a replacement opponent, and middleweights Michael Bisping (25-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) and C.B. Dollaway (15-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) could get promoted to the co-headlining slot instead. Henderson, though, is willing to help bolster the PPV main card.

Henderson, who suffered a narrow loss to lightweight Donald Cerrone in January, rebounded with a submission victory over welterweight Brandon Thatch on an impressive 27-day turnaround. Recently, Henderson, who’s said he could compete in both weight classes, has lobbied for a fight with fellow 155-pounder contender Michael Johnson (16-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC). Johnson, who’s riding a four-fight winning streak and is now No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings (where Henderson is No. 5), agreed to the proposed matchup, though it’s not clear if the UFC will oblige.

The current UFC 186 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi – for flyweight title
• Fabio Maldonado vs. opponent TBA
• Michael Bisping vs. C.B. Dollaway
• Shane Campbell vs. John Makdessi
• Thomas Almeida vs. Yves Jabouin

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Patrick Cote vs. Joe Riggs
• Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman
• Bryan Barberena vs. Chad Laprise
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. David Michaud

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

• Chris Clements vs. Nordine Taleb
• Valerie Letourneau vs. Jessica Rakoczy
• Aisling Daly vs. Randa Markos

For more on UFC 186, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.