“We’re so young being professional athletes,” Henderson told MMAjunkie. “We don’t really have the same whole realizations some of these NBA guys, NFL players, MLB players, have when they’re in high school knowing they are going to the pros and will be in the big leagues. They have advisers come to them to talk about this and that. MMA fighters are so young as athletes, we don’t know the full ramifications of signing a deal for this much money. Then you’re being used by the organization and not fully compensated what you should be for as much as you are putting on the line. As much as you sacrifice, you should be able to live comfortably, live well.
“You don’t have to be a multi-millionaire like some of these guys in the NBA and the NFL – top-tier money – but you should be comfortable'
Henderson said Bellator’s offer was one he couldn’t refuse. There was no guarantee that would be the case, but he said it was important to put himself in a position to find out. He would encourage fellow fighters to do the same because the inherent culture of the sport, paired with the absence of a union or players association, means the only people who can truly look out for the sport’s competitors are themselves.
“We’re not too smart as professional athletes,” Henderson said. “If we were smarter, we would already have a some sort of players association or some model like that to look after us. When you’re in such a young sport, everyone is after what they can get instead of looking for the betterment of what we can all do together. We’re all in this together, but when this guy offers you $5 and then someone says, ‘Oh, I’ll do it for $2,’ it can be hard. Everyone is trying to get what they can get, which is understandable. That’s the American dream and how we live. But if we were smarter, we would already have some sort of association involved.”
LINK: Benson Henderson unsure about future of free agency, but says fighters should be smarter
