Karate Combat will close out 2023 with its biggest headliner yet.
Karate Combat 43 will feature a 170-pound match atop the card, featuring former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champions, Anthony Pettis (25-14 in MMA) and Benson Henderson (30-12 in MMA), fighting for the third time overall at the Expo at World Trade Market in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2023, per MMA Fighting. The bout will be each’s first in the promotion under karate rules and will stream live and free on YouTube.
The report also confirmed that the promotion is in talks with Jose Aldo, Luke Rockhold, Lyoto Machida, Michael Page, and Darren Till. Along with Pettis vs. Henderson 3, Lyoto’s brother, Chinzo Machida, will take on Shannon Hudson.
“I am excited to announce my next endeavor with the Karate Combat family,” Pettis said. “I am returning to my traditional martial arts roots for this one. I am the most complete and exciting striker in martial arts and I will show the world where my expertise in MMA comes from. I want to help grow this sport and I can’t wait to put on a show for this organization. It’s Showtime!”
Pettis’ biggest career moments came against his “Smooth” rival, capturing UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) gold on both occasions. The pair’s classic first encounter went down at the final WEC event in history, WEC 53, providing the famous “Showtime Kick” off the cage that essentially sealed Pettis’ victory, earning him a unanimous decision. The rematch came three years later in Pettis’ hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the flashy striker scored the upset with a slick first round armbar.
Pettis and Henderson have recently parted ways with MMA in different fashions. For “Showtime,” he made his professional boxing debut against Roy Jones Jr. at a Gamebred Boxing event this past April 2023. In what was again a return home in Milwaukee, Pettis came out on top with a majority decision win in the eight-round affair. His last MMA appearance came in Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he lost a unanimous decision to Stevie Ray in August 2022.
Henderson, on the other hand, retired from MMA after suffering a first round rear-naked choke submission loss to Bellator Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov, at Bellator 292 in March 2023 (watch highlights).