Benson Henderson’s inaugural Bellator affair didn’t really go as he expected.

But even after dropping a unanimous decision to welterweight champ Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 153, the former UFC lightweight titleholder remained in the promotion’s good graces. Shortly after the fight, Henderson said, he was given a few different options – including another title shot, this time for the 155-pound belt that now sits with Michael Chandler.

“Right after the loss to Andrey, three days later, shortly after, (Bellator Matchmaker) Mike Kogan hit me up and said hey, ‘Do you want to go to 155?’” Henderson told MMAjunkie Radio. “At the time they were still up in the air who was going to fight for the belt, and once they decided it was going to be Chandler vs. the Big Pitbull (Patricky Freire), they said ‘Do you want the winner of that?’ I said ‘Sure, of course, absolutely, man.’

“But then, after the fight, they realized, you know, the way the fight game goes, Chandler’s hand was hurt. They said, ‘Do you want to sit around and wait? Do you want to wait for Chandler’s hand to heal up or do you want to fight somebody else?’ I was like, ‘Come on Mike, you already know the answer to that. He kind of chuckled, like ‘Yeah, yeah I know. I knew the answer to that before I even asked it.’”

Henderson (23-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) chose to stay busy, taking on a former featherweight titleholder Patricio Freire (25-3 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) in a lightweight battle that, judging by what Freire told MMAjunkie, might end up determining Chandler’s next challenger.

The two are set to headline Friday’s Bellator 160, which takes place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The evening’s four-fight main card airs on Spike following preliminary bouts on MMAjunkie.

The perks of being a respected ex-champ are not lost on Henderson, who appreciates being in what seems like a permanent title-shot-ready position after years of hard labor.

“You hope at some point in time you reach a point in your career not everything’s an extreme uphill battle just to get some of the recognition you feel you’re due,” Henderson said. “It’s all about working your butt off. I think if you work your butt off, you actually do your diligence, go out and do your best. A lot of times, you keep at it, you keep at it, you keep at it, you end up – good things happening. Being in a good spot later on in life. And I think I’m at a pretty good spot right now.

“Reaching that point in your career where you’re able to get a title shot coming over to a new organization right away, even coming off a hard, tough loss at 170 you get a title shot at 155, but Chandler being hurt, it was a blessing for sure.”

Though the “hard, tough loss” in this case was the one to Koreshkov, it doesn’t like the former UFC champ took any of the other ones lightly, either.

“For me, personally, I can say (losses) definitely stay with me forever,” Henderson said. “I don’t like losing, I hate losing, I cannot stand it. Every single loss on my record, I would like to redo that. Let’s matchup again, I think I can get my hand raised against every single person I have lost against.”

For more on Bellator 160, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.