Benson “Smooth” Henderson secured his first title defence by besting Frankie Edgar in an extremely competitive five-round fight.
During the fight, Benson Henderson briefly showed off his trademark submission defence. He easily avoided Edgar’s attempt to choke him out after dazing him in the second round.
Henderson is able to stay very calm in the midst of submission-related danger. Anyone who saw Henderson’s fights with Jim Miller or Mark Bocek knows that Henderson has no problems pounding away at his opponents from positions that would make most fighters desperately scramble for survival or tap.
His technique and flexibility have afforded him the ability to neutralize submission fighters in this way. No matter how deep a submission seems to be, he ultimately finds his way out, and his opponents are always the ones who end up more damaged.
But if he continues his carefree ways and lets Nate Diaz secure a tight submission lock, he’s going to find himself tapping or going out.
The champion has undoubtedly bested many very capable grapplers in the UFC and WEC but none with submission skills of Nate Diaz.
Nate Diaz has cleaner technique than Henderson’s previous opponents. While it’s true that Diaz has had trouble dealing with wrestling-heavy grapplers in the past, his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills are stronger now. Good enough to scare off fighters like Donald Cerrone and to submit fighters like Jim Miller.
It doesn’t matter that Henderson has practically mocked the submission abilities of Miller, Bocek, Guida and Cerrone, who collectively have 47 submission wins out of 80 total career wins
What matters is that Nate Diaz will force Benson Henderson to tap if Henderson doesn’t respect his skills.
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