With a repaired knee, Benson Henderson wants final years 'to be as action-packed as possible'

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Ex-UFC champ and Bellator lightweight Benson Henderson isn’t the type to blame his setbacks on injuries. But after undergoing knee surgery this past December, it sure is nice to have working ligaments.

“It feels great to know in the back of my head that there’s nothing wrong,” Henderson (24-7 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) told MMAjunkie in advance of his meeting Saturday with Patricky Freire (17-8 MMA, 10-7 BMMA) at Bellator 183. “There’s no ailments, no ‘knee doesn’t feel quite right, but that’s OK, I’ll get it taken care of after I’m done fighting.’ But to know truly that everything is good to go.”

As quick as Henderson looked to the outside world, he was toughing it out with a torn ACL. He fought several fights hobbled by the injury, delaying corrective surgery long enough so that by the time he fought now ex-champ Michael Chandler this past November for the Bellator lightweight title, his MCL and meniscus also needed work.

A split-decision loss left Henderson back at the drawing board after a setback six months earlier against welterweight champ Andrey Koreshkov.

Henderson has been great at adapting to physical challenges, but in the waning years of his career, it behooves him to be at his best. He knows he needs another impressive performance to get back in the title hunt after misses at lightweight and welterweight.

Freire, of course, looks to punch his ticket to another title shot on the back of Henderson. The Brazilian sees an opening with Brett Primus holding the lightweight belt, the result of a bizzare injury TKO over Chandler in June.

Henderson once planned to step away from MMA at age 33 to serve in the military. But he admits bad planning narrowed his options for serving his country. Now, he expects to join the reserves.

“I have more time to do it now,” Henderson said. “That being said, I have a limited amount of time left – one year, two years. I know I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 40. I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 37. And I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 36.

“But in that time, for most of my fights, I don’t take a lot of damage. I want however long I have (left), I want those to be as action-packed as possible. I want to get 15 fights in those three years. Hopefully, they’re all title fights.”

To make that happen, Henderson has got to secure a belt. So he’ll need to drum up something spectacular against Freire. Now that he’s healthy, that might be a lot easier.

Watch the video above to hear more from Henderson on his time with Bellator, his fight against Freire and his future plans.

And for more on Bellator 183, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.