Benson Henderson built his name on performances like the one he had on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 59. In his third fight against Donald Cerrone, Henderson landed just a little more often, stayed just a little busier, and was heading for yet another vaguely unsatisfying decision victory over an elite lightweight. Except this time, the cards didn’t fall in his favor.
All three judges scored the contest 29-28 for Cerrone, though they didn’t all agree on which two rounds Cerrone had won. Henderson looked shocked at the result, and Cerrone — who should have been jubilant at finally earning a win against an opponent who had previously beaten him twice — looked pretty bummed about the result himself. As he explains in the post-fight interview below, Cerrone wasn’t happy with his “timid” performance in the round 1, and he was sad that he gave his friend Benson his third-straight loss. (When Ariel Helwani explains that Henderson has only lost two straight, it seems to make Cerrone feel better, but not by much.)
So that’s two fights in a row where Donald Cerrone hasn’t felt too thrilled about his performance — and his third consecutive fight without winning a performance bonus, which is maybe the most shocking detail of all. Does that mean Cerrone wants to jump back in the mix right away and redeem himself? Not this time:
“I think Khabib [Nurmagomedov] is going to be what’s next, for sure,” Cerrone said at UFC Fight Night 59′s post-fight press conference. “I’m going to take some time off and just get ready and stay ready, and hopefully Khabib will be ready…
“Seven in a row, man. I feel good. It’s time to take some time off,” Cerrone said. “Talk with Dana and Lorenzo after this, go see the Super Bowl and go to Daytona 500 and just kind of hang out.”
You can’t say the man hasn’t earned it. This Bud’s for you, Cowboy.
