Benson Henderson (26-8 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) will continue competing under the Bellator banner for the foreseeable future.

Bellator officials told MMAjunkie that Henderson recently inked a new “exclusive, long-term deal” with the promotion after fighting out his previous deal with a Bellator 208 win over Saad Awad in October.

Henderson, a former UFC lightweight champion, came to Bellator in 2016 and challenged unsuccessfully for the promotion’s welterweight title against then-champ Andrey Koreshkov.

A natural lightweight, Henderson then dropped down to 155 pounds, scoring a TKO win over Patricio Freire and then suffering a split-decision loss to Michael Chandler in a bid for Bellator’s lightweight belt. After a September 2017 split-decision loss, this time to Patricky Freire, Henderson has since bounced back with wins over Roger Huerta and Awad.

Perhaps more importantly, Henderson underwent surgery in late 2017 to repair a torn ACL he had competed with during his back-to-back losses earlier in the year. Henderson, 34, has gone 2-0 since the procedure.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.