Benson Henderson Non-Committal on His Future in Fighting

Benson Henderson has a tendency toward split decisions in the cage. He may have a similar tendency for splitting hairs outside of it.

Henderson, who won a close split decision over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 79, confirmed after the fight that he would like to test MMA free agency—and in the same sentence seemed to say he was committed to staying in the UFC.

“When I retire, it will be retiring in the UFC – I know that for sure,” Henderson said, according to a Saturday report from John Morgan and Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie. “But I’m going to test the market, yes.”

Looks like Benson Henderson ended his UFC contract with a win. It will be reallyyy interesting to see how negotiations play out. #UFCSeoul

— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) November 28, 2015

The Saturday event took place in Seoul, South Korea, and aired early Saturday morning in the United States.

This fight was the last of Henderson's current contract, clearing the way for new contract negotiations. Observers have long expected Henderson to become a free agent, as opposed to automatically re-upping with the UFC. Bellator—which has recently signed relatively high-profile UFC departees like Phil Davis and Josh Thomson—has been suggested as a potential landing place for Henderson.

Although Henderson's stated desire to test free agency and remain in the UFC are not necessarily mutually exclusive, it is interesting to hear him express with certainty that he will retire in the Octagon even as he states with equal certainty that he will test the open market.

“I’m not trying to send any message of any type," Henderson told MMA Junkie. "But if it plays out a certain way, I want to have some pretty good memories to go out on."

This was the UFC's first event held in Korea, which held particular meaning to the Korean-American Henderson. 

It is anyone's guess what will happen next, but it's clear that the 32-year-old Henderson (23-5) is still a high-level fighter. He has won four of his last six, including a 2-0 mark as a welterweight, the weight class at which he faced Masvidal on Saturday. 

Potentially working against Henderson is his aforementioned tendency for closely contested decisions. He has gone the distance 13 times as a pro fighter, with four of those being split-decision wins for Henderson. That tendency appeared to manifest after he captured the lightweight title in 2012; all four of the split decisions came in the 10 fights since he won the belt.

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