Injury helps propel Benson Henderson to Bellator title shot

ANAHEIM, California — Benson Henderson accomplished his goal of securing a lightweight title shot by beating Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main event of Bellator 160 at Honda Center on Friday night.

The former UFC lightweight didn’t have much to celebrate, however.

Freire was ahead in a fight that featured little action and sustained boos when he suffered a leg injury and just stopped competing.

The referee stepped in to signal an end to the fight and Henderson had won the right to challenge Michael Chandler for the belt on Nov. 19 in San Jose.

For the second straight fight since signing a free-agent deal with Bellator, Henderson failed to look like the fighter who held the UFC belt just three years ago.

He dropped a one-sided decision to Andrey Koreshkov in his organizational debut in April and mounted very little offense on Friday before the fortunate turn of events helped propel him to a bizarre victory.

A lightweight bout between Derek Anderson and Saad Awad stole the show, with Anderson winning a unanimous decision in a 15-minute war of attrition that saw both fighters trading big, looping punches and submission attempts.

“I just wanted to go out and put on the performance of the night and I think we did that,” Anderson said.

Former NCAA Division I wrestling champ Bubba Jenkins was hoping to prove his 2015 loss to Georgi Karakhanyan was just a fluke.

Instead, he lost even quicker in a catchweight bout.

Karakhanyan needed 1:49 to submit Jenkins in the first meeting. He knocked him out in just 53 seconds on Friday night, landing a big right hook after catching a kick to drop Jenkins along the cage and end the fight.

The result ran counter to the direction each fighter had been headed since the first meeting. Jenkins had rebounded with three straight wins while Karakhanyan followed his victory over Jenkins with back-to-back losses.

“I went through a lot being on a losing streak,” said Karakhanyan, who missed weight by three pounds on Thursday. “I don’t like it. I’m a fighter. I like winning. (Expletive), that feels good.

“I’m just so happy.”

Featherweight A.J. McKee was taken out of the first round for the first time in his career in the opening fight of the main card.

He then quickly took his frustration out on Cody Walker, submitting him just 32 seconds into the second round to remain undefeated.

McKee said he feels ready to take the next step in his career, calling out 145-pound champion Daniel Straus.

“That’s who I’m coming for,” he said.

McKee’s training partner and friend Joey Davis, who just completed an undefeated collegiate wrestling career at Division II Notre Dame College (Ohio), made a successful professional MMA debut with a dominant decision victory over Keith Cutrone on the preliminary card.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.