Benson Henderson, the former UFC lightweight champion, may be set to move up to welterweight after one more contest at 155 pounds.
That’s according to Henderson’s coach, John Crouch, who dropped the nugget to broadcaster Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight (h/t Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting).
“He would like to see what it feels like to not cut weight,” Crouch said. “The weight cut is irritating for him.”
Crouch also said that Henderson would prefer to leave the lightweight division on a winning note. He lost by first-round knockout in his last fight, an August 23 main event with Rafael dos Anjos.
Benson Henderson wants 1 more fight at lightweight before moving up to welterweight and trying to make a run at the belt.
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) September 25, 2014
Henderson (21-4) is stuck in a bit of no-man’s land at 155 pounds. He has two career losses to reigning champion Anthony Pettis (one in 2013 in the UFC, the other a 2010 contest in the now-defunct WEC). Typically, people don’t get a third shot after losing the first two.
The Dos Anjos loss dug the Colorado native an even deeper hole.
Henderson has indicated before that he struggles with the cut down to lightweight. That is not a major surprise, given that “Bendo” is one of the largest lightweights in the division once he steps into the cage.
Bendo first captured the lightweight belt in 2012 after a defeat of Frankie Edgar. He then defended the belt three consecutive times—in a rematch with Edgar, then in matches with Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez—before losing by first-round submission to Pettis.
Despite that very successful run, Henderson has never fully caught on with fans. His clinch-heavy, defensive-oriented style does not lead to many fireworks, and the public appeared quick to move on from him in a lightweight division currently packed with exciting, charismatic fighters and bigger overall names in the sport.
There is no telling whom Bendo might be paired up with in a welterweight debut.
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