You have to say this for Benson Henderson: The guy knows how to dream big.
In the moments after his impressive welterweight debut Saturday night—a fourth-round submission of touted prospect Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 60—the former UFC lightweight champ called out one of the best welterweights alive: top contender Rory MacDonald.
“I hear there’s a big MacDonald up in Canada who needs a fight,” Henderson told broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage after the fight. “If he wants it, I’m game.”
It didn’t take MacDonald long to respond, albeit noncommittally:
Jeez man the whole welterweight divisions is calling me out and i thought thats all i had to worry about, now lightweights wanna hit me 2lol
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) February 15, 2015
MacDonald’s lukewarm welcome made more sense in the context of comments made after the fight by UFC President Dana White, who nixed Henderson’s matchup idea and said MacDonald was already set for another contest, per Bloody Elbow.
“No,” White said at the post-fight news conference in response to questions about the proposed match. “[MacDonald] has a fight lined up already.”
White declined to name MacDonald’s opponent or provide any other details about the fight that had been lined up. He did, however, say Henderson was welcome to continue fighting in the welterweight or lightweight division.
MacDonald (18-2) is on a three-fight win streak over other top UFC 170-pounders. His only loss in the past four years came to current champion Robbie Lawler. A bout between MacDonald and Hector Lombard had been scheduled for UFC 186 in April but was scuttled last week because Lombard failed a drug test.
Henderson (22-5) had never competed professionally as a welterweight before Saturday. He had lost two straight at lightweight, but before that he had won all but one of his 10 UFC contests. He held the UFC lightweight title from February 2012 to August 2013, when he lost the strap to current champ Anthony Pettis.
With MacDonald unavailable, it is uncertain who Henderson might face next. Though undersized as a welterweight, Henderson’s victory over Thatch and White’s tacit public permission for him to fight in either weight class would seem to present him and his camp with plenty of possible combinations.
As for MacDonald, his next opponent is also a matter of mere speculation at this point. But there is no question he is on the very short list of names who could serve as a credible threat to Lawler and his title.
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter.
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