Benson Henderson made waves recently when he decided to sign with Bellator for more upfront money than resign with the UFC on the chance he could make more money as a champion again someday. Unfortunately, this shows the condition his career is in that he can make more of his name considering he was nowhere near a title shot. Barely ranked at 170 due to two decent wins and having not fought since the IV ban at 155, his options were limited. Now, he is enjoying the moniker of former UFC champion hat much more in his new promotion.
While Bellator was able to usurp a big name, they did not get the hot prospect and big name/title contender that also hit the open market recently. Alistair Overeem was up for free agency but announced earlier today that he had resigned with the UFC. Overeem had a rough start to his UFC career going 2-3 amid a steroid controversy, and all three of those losses came by knockout. Since then, he has been able to win three straight with a TKO of Stefan Struve, a win over Roy Nelson and a knockout of long time rival JDS. Unfortunately, his TKO loss to Ben Rothwell keeps him at least one or two fights away from he title, but he is a good name to have at Heavyweight for the UFC since it is such a thin division.
The real big and young contender the UFC was able to keep was Aljamain Sterling. A lot of people were critical of the young star when he wanted to test free agency due to what he felt was a lowball offer from the promotion for his new contract. Although, many people sided with him after they saw the amount money Sage Northcutt was being paid to defeat scrubs. Nonetheless, Sterling is back with the promotion and it is not known if he received more money or if other offers were lower than the UFC, but he is happy and seems intent on challenging for the title this year. With a record of 12-0 and four straight wins in the UFC, it is not out of the question.