If UFC lightweight contender Benson Henderson were to be cast in a movie, Smooth would undoubtedly star in a suspense film. And like any good suspense film, Henderson likes taking his time.
The former lightweight champion, who’s notorious for piling up close-decision wins, was burned by the judges in his uneventful trilogy fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night: Boston. It marked just the second time Henderson lost via decision in his mixed martial arts career.
Though he wasn’t particularly sour in his post-fight interview, the fighter from the MMA Lab had every right to be. Henderson acted as the aggressor for much of the pair’s co-main event spot, winning the striking battle by a wide margin.
Henderson’s game plan of targeting the legs and body of the prolific kickboxer was a key throughout his 15-minute tussle with Cerrone. Not to mention, Henderson stuffed six “Cowboy” takedowns.
Cerrone, though, would ultimately prevail off the strength of his two takedowns and, perhaps, his soaring popularity.
The loss stings just a bit more than normal because it’s the first time Smooth has lost back-to-back fights in his career. Rather than anguishing on the sideline, he’s choosing to stay busy, like his pal Cowboy.
Bendo will be foregoing an April fight with Jorge Masvidal to headline an injury-plagued UFC Fight Night 60 card in his home state of Colorado against Brandon Thatch.
With a change in opponent also comes a change in weight class. The 31-year-old Henderson will move up to 170-pounds to meet the “Rukus.”
No one can blame him for dusting his boots off to get back on the proverbial MMA grind. Henderson is a large lightweight and has spoken candidly about a move up.
In March 2013, when Bendo was still champ, he unceremoniously called out the greatest UFC welterweight in history, Georges St-Pierre.
Like St-Pierre, Henderson has been branded as a fighter that’s not all that compelling in the cage.
“In the UFC, they want fights to be exciting. They want knockouts, they want submissions,” Henderson told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole in December 2012. “But at the same time, you have to be smart about it. You have to get your hand raised and get the W.”
Smooth has a lot of ‘Ws’. He has tallied nine Octagon wins, compared to three losses. If you take his wins in World Extreme Cagefighting into account, that number rises to 14.
For a four-year period, from January 2009 to August 2013, the Colorado native was only stopped by current lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. He also defeated some noteworthy lightweight champions, Frankie Edgar (twice) and Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce), in that span.
Those wins came at the peak of Bendo‘s career. They also happened to be the most controversial.
The Melendez and Edgar fights were as close on the scorecards as they appeared on television. Several MMA outlets scored Henderson’s second fight with Edgar at UFC 150 in favor of the latter.
But Henderson hasn’t only been a target for MMA pundits; his boss has also been his biggest critic. Following his back-and-forth split-decision victory over Josh Thomson in January 2014, UFC president Dana White remarked, per Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie, that “this is the typical Ben Henderson fight.”
Even then, Henderson didn’t complain. Over time, though, his guard eroded.
His title loss against Pettis, and the shots thrown by White, resulted in this tirade following Bendo‘s first UFC finish against Rustam Khabilov in June.
“Getting the ‘W’ is the same as all the other ‘Ws,’” said Henderson at the UFC Fight Night 42 post-fight presser. “I’m just after good performances, whether it’s a submission or its a knockout, sometimes you guys in the media don’t understand what it is to win.”
Henderson is right. To see a fight through the eyes of the fighter taking the blows in the cage is something entirely different.
However, if he wants to earn some respect, Smooth should rip a page out of the book of humility. Since relinquishing his title to Pettis, Henderson has gone on to achieve a 2-2 record.
The most devastating loss of his career came at the hands of current No. 1 contender Rafael dos Anjos. Rather than take the high road, Bendo threw dirt on the Brazilians’ first-round knockout victory, calling it “a flash knockout.”
While the end result of the fight may have been controversial, he could’ve at least recognized his opponent’s power. Maybe even tip his cap to the better man.
After all it’s Henderson that has been given the benefit of the doubt several times before. And whether he wins or loses, controversy still manages to rear its ugly head every time he steps into the Octagon.
Henderson has a job to do. He does it quite well and is one of the most successful in the division at his craft.
And admittedly, as Bleacher Report’s Chad Dundas pointed out, “there are worse roles to have in the UFC’s most crowded and competitive division.”
Though, he hasn’t done much to change his stock in it. He didn’t try to lay a whipping on the Cowboy.
Perhaps, his breakthrough showing hasn’t come yet because of just how stiff his competition was. Edgar, Melendez, Thomson and Cerrone have all been finished a combined four times in their careers.
The welterweight division isn’t going to be a cakewalk either for Henderson and it begins February 14. However, we just might have to wait for the bout verse Thatch to play out to gauge Smooth’s interest in staying at 170 pounds.
“I would say it’s just a pit-stop for right now. I wouldn’t say that I’m going to stay at 170, just more or less flirting with the idea and seeing how it goes from here,” Henderson told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
Whether or not Henderson will compete for another title remains to be seen. It’s possible his time has already come.
If he stays complacent in his fight strategy, though, it’s going to be rough sledding for the former UFC/WEC champion.
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