...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator MMA has signed a second former UFC fighter this week, but it won't have quite the impact of the Benson Henderson signing.
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker announced on Friday night's "Inside MMA" program on AXS TV that they've signed former longtime vet Chris Leben, who will come out of retirement to join their roster pending physicals.
Leben, who entered the UFC in 2005 as one of the breakout personalities in the first ever season of The Ultimate Fighter, retired two years ago after a loss to Uriah Hall. That loss was his fourth straight, dropping his still winning record in the Octagon to 12-10 overall. The 35-year-old cited injury risks along with the losing streak as reason for the retirement, but now he'll return to action.
No timetable for his debut is set, but it will mark his first fight since December of 2013.
Penick's Analysis: The signing of Benson Henderson was something to praise, this one falls more in line with them signing the upcoming Ken Shamrock-Royce Gracie fight, or booking any other number of fighters who are more name than fighter in 2016. Even Josh Koscheck was a more sensible signing, and it seems inevitable Spike and Bellator will try to book that fight given their history on the network. We shouldn't be surprised at this point, but it's a disconcerting signing, and I don't know who actually wants to see him fight.
Attention iPhone/iPad users, if you've enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you've never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store. We've launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out! An update to our Android app is on its way soon as well, so Android users keep an eye out for that update soon!
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
