Roger Huerta will return to the Bellator cage for the first time since 2010 when he meets Benson Henderson in the new Bellator 196 headliner.
The matchup came about after James Gallagher, who was scheduled to meet Adam Borics in the original Bellator 196 main event, was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. Henderson vs. Huerta was first announced on “The MMA Hour” Monday.
Henderson has dropped back-to-back split decisions to Patricky Friere and Michael Chandler in his last two Bellator appearances. The former UFC lightweight champion is 1-3 with the California-based organization overall, with his lone victory coming via injury TKO over Patricio Freire at Bellator 160.
The 34-year-old Huerta enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak, including a disqualification triumph against Hayder Hassan on Dec. 22 as a result of his opponent landing illegal elbows to the back of the head. “El Matador” has competed primarily for One Championship in recent years but did go 1-2 during a brief stint with Bellator in 2010. Prior to that, Huerta compiled a 6-2 mark in the UFC that included victories over Clay Guida and Leonard Garcia.
Bellator 196 takes place on April 6 at Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary and airs via tape delay in the United States on Paramount Network.