Manager: Benson Henderson soon to sign; UFC wants Robbie Lawler-Tyron Woodley next

Former UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson will soon make his next career move, according to his manager, Malki Kawa.

Kawa appeared this past Friday on MMAjunkie Radio and gave an update on ex-interim champ Carlos Condit and two of the hottest free agents currently on the market, Henderson and Aljamain Sterling.

Kawa said Henderson “is probably going to come to a close in the next couple of days.

“That’s the only one that’s close right now,” Kawa added, though he also said with another push, bantamweight prospect Sterling could “probably” get a new deal in the next couple of days.

Henderson (23-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) and Sterling (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who closed out their respective UFC contracts on wins, tested the open market around the same time. The promotion waived its usual exclusive negotiating period for Sterling so he could court other offers. But it took awhile for the pair to get the ball rolling.

Aljamain Sterling

“Those initial conversations can take weeks to get to before a good, solid offer gets offer or a contract gets negotiated where you’re going to accept it or turn it down,” Kawa said.

There also was a learning curve as to gauging the fighters’ value on the open market, the manager added. Because the UFC’s chief competitor, the Viacom-owned Bellator, is a TV property that depends on ratings, it relies more heavily on individuals and personalities with name recognition who bring an audience.

“So when a fighter is trying to go over there, you might have been a good UFC fighter, but if you’re a middle-of-the-pack guy, maybe (the offer is) not what you really think it is because they need that guy that can move the ratings,” Kawa said. “That’s how they make their money. That’s how they stay in business.”

The issue facing fighters such as Henderson, who once held a UFC title and has fought the majority of his career as a top-billed fighter, is whether sticking with the industry-leading UFC is worth their while. Without the leverage a title brings, or a ravenous pack of devoted fans a la UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor, it can be tough to convince the promotion such a fighter deserves a raise.

And while Henderson is a well-known property, he was clearly unhappy with what the promotion offered him for his next contract. Whether offers from competing organizations budged UFC officials will soon be known.

“Anybody that goes into free agency, I think it’s a difficult time for that fighter because it’s the fear of the unknown,” Kawa said. “I think most guys, when they push this envelope, they’re hoping the UFC will make a move for them, and that might not necessarily be the case, right? You’ve seen some guys from the UFC end up going over to Bellator and other organizations, and I think that will happen as time goes on.

“But when you look at the top tier of fighters, guys like Benson, you’ve spent most of your fighting life under one banner, and now you’re faced with this dilemma of, all right, I’ve got to make more money. What’s the best way to go about it? You get a contract offer, and you might not like it.”

Condit update

Carlos Condit

Former interim UFC welterweight champion Condit very much liked the most recent deal he signed, Kawa said. Condit fulfilled the second fight on a new deal when he delivered an early “Fight of the Year” candidate against champ Robbie Lawler at UFC 195. The big problem was that he lost a split decision.

Condit said afterward he’s considering retirement. The announcement came as a surprise to many, but Kawa said the veteran fighter had previously indicated his next contract would be his last.

Kawa said Condit expressed concerns over the damage he took in training camps.

“He kind of caught me off guard because this was a couple of years ago, and it was really because he said, ‘Malki, I get a concussion almost every time I train,’” Kawa said. “’Every time I train every camp.’ In other words – not every day.

“It’s not always every time, but then he was telling me, ‘I go into these fights, and who am I fighting? I’m fighting Thiago Alves. I’m fighting Georges St-Pierre, Johny Hendricks, Tyron Woodley. These guys are all top-five guys in the world. I’m not busted up bad, but I’ve suffered concussions in some fights. I want to preserve my brain, bro.’”

Kawa said Condit (30-9 MMA, 7-5 UFC) wanted to retire the night of his fight with Lawler (27-10 MMA, 12-4 UFC). But he changed his mind the next day and targeted a rematch with the champ. It would seem granting that wish would only be fair after such an amazing fight, but it’s not that simple. The UFC could be moving a different direction.

“The first thing I did is I called up and said, ‘The guy wants a rematch,’” Kawa said. “And they said, ‘Well, I don’t know if we’re going to do that right now. We’ve got so-and-so who’s been sitting on the sideline forever,’ and they’re talking about Tyron Woodley, ‘So we’re not going to keep Tyron waiting.’”

Kawa manages both Condit and Woodley (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), who was promised the winner of Condit vs. Lawler after a title eliminator with Johny Hendricks at UFC 192 was scrapped due to Hendricks’ weight-cutting issues.

Kawa stressed he’s able to manage both fighters without a conflict of interest, lobbying on both fighters’ behalf at the negotiating table. In the end, however, UFC officials will decide which fight they want to promote, and he can only push to emerge with the best arrangement possible.

He said the UFC’s move also comes down to timing. He’s heard Lawler is talking about not fighting again until UFC 200 in July. That would be a wait of 19 months for Woodley, who hasn’t fought since a January 2015 decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. For Condit, it would be a modest turnaround after a brutal fight.

“(Condit has) gotten to the point in his career where he thinks he’s earned the right to have some of the biggest fights in the game, and if they’re not there, then he’s not going to fight,” Kawa said. “So whether it’s a title rematch or another big fight that’s out there, I know he’d love to throw down with Georges St-Pierre again. I know he’d entertain a fight with Anderson Silva.”

For more on the UFC’s and Bellator’s upcoming schedules, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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