Ben Henderson sounds like he is expecting a comfortable win over his UFC on FOX opponent, Clay Guida.
The co-main event of the UFC’s prime time debut is being promoted as a title eliminator bout to see who gets a crack at Frankie Edgar’s lightweight title next.
Despite Guida looking like the best version of “The Carpenter” since joining Greg Jackson’s fight camp and sporting a four-fight winning streak, “Smooth” does not seem worried heading into Saturday’s fight.
“With Clay, I think I can do pretty much what I want to,” Henderson told USA Today.
“Bendo” went on to say that he feels he’s better than Guida in every area, including the wrestling department where Guida has shined the most recently.
“If he wants to stay standing, I can take him down or I can keep it standing, because I think I’m a better stand-up fighter than he is,” said Henderson, a former WEC lightweight champion.
“If he wants to take it the ground, I think I’m a better wrestler, I can avoid the takedown or if I want to take it to the ground, I can dictate where the fight takes place at,” he added.
Henderson’s resume backs up these claims, as he was a two-time NAIA All-American wrestler at Dana College, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Additionally, in 14 career wins, Henderson has 10 stoppages: eight submissions and two knockouts.
However, it would be remiss to count out Clay Guida, who has an iron chin, enough cardio to fight for days at a time and a solid grappling game in his own right.
Guida, a 40-fight veteran of the sport, is coming off arguably the biggest win of his career when he defeated a very game Anthony Pettis at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in June.
Henderson’s only loss in his past 13 bouts has been a close loss to Pettis in December of 2010, where Pettis hit his famed “Showtime Kick” to solidify a victory late into the fight.
Also, don’t forget that Guida is a former champion in his own right: he held the Strikeforce lightweight title back in 2006.
Despite this match up being a potential Fight of the Year candidate, fans will have to watch this one on either Fox Deportes, FOX.com or the UFC’s official Facebook page.
Fox Deportes will also air the main event heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, as well as a featherweight battle between Dustin Poirer and Pablo Garza.
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