Benson Henderson’s Agent Gives Update on His Contract Status

Malki Kawa, the CEO of First Round Management which represents several UFC stars, spoke with MMAjunkie about Benson Henderson potentially testing the free agent market along with other big-name fighters. Check out the highlights:

On if this is a new era in contract negotiations: “I don’t know if this is necessarily going to be a wave of the future. I can tell you I’ve been doing this in the UFC for about seven years, eight years now, and this is the first time I’ve been in a position where I’ve had four clients all in the same month just become free agents. If I told you that I planned this out, I’d be lying to you because that’s not what happened.”

On Henderson’s negotiation status: “My partner Wayne actually is meeting with the UFC this week to start negotiating his deal. They’ll make an offer, they’ll hear Ben out, and we’ll go from there. If Ben wants to shop around and see what it is, they’ll probably let him do it. Then he’ll go get an offer and bring it back to them, and they’ll have an option to match it or let him go. I think they’re going to do that rather fast as opposed to slow. I think that from a matchmaking standpoint, they have to get their plans together for 2016.”

On Aljamain Sterling getting the UFC’s exclusive negotiating period waived: “Aljamain’s case it was, ‘Here you go. If you think guys can get a better deal than what we’re offering, then go ahead and go look around and bring it back,’ and that’s where we are with Aljamain. I didn’t have to wait 90 days. I think the UFC, with having so many shows and having so much stuff going on, them holding a guy doesn’t make any sense for them either. Let’s move forward. Are we making this happen or not? ‘Why don’t you go see what he’s worth, and come back and let’s talk when you have some solid numbers. Let’s not pull numbers out of the air.’ And I appreciated that. That’s something that worked out for Aljamain.”

On Sarah Kaufman and Alistair Overeem’s contracts: “Sarah Kaufman and Alistair Overeem just fought on Saturday, so we’re going to talk to the UFC first.”

On keeping himself focused on the individual negotiations: “This is just business as usual. In the agent business, you have to be prepared for free agency – this isn’t the first time, it won’t be the last time – making smart decisions and hoping that negotiations go well. The only thing I really can’t control is what the UFC is going to decide to do as far as what offer they make and what other offers are going to be out there. All I can do is just do my job and do the best I can to get the goals that these guys have done. If I can do that, everything will be fine. In any negotiation, you really win when both sides can win – when they feel good and we feel good. If that can happen, that’s what I look forward to try to make happen. Hey, you want to re-sign Alistair Overeem, Benson Henderson? You want to re-sign Aljamain Sterling? Let’s make that happen. At the same time, the ones who have to really feel comfortable with it are Alistair Overeem, Ben Henderson and Aljamain Sterling, and any free agent has to feel good signing that contract. I think the UFC, from that standpoint, doesn’t want somebody to sign with them that’s unhappy with them. They want guys to be happy, too.”