Former UFC lightweight Benson Henderson is frustrated with having his fights in the hands of the judges and following his loss to Patricky Freire in the Bellator 183 main event this past weekend, he has vowed to do his best to make needed changes. “I think that either way, win or lose, I need to […]
Former UFC lightweight Benson Henderson is frustrated with having his fights in the hands of the judges and following his loss to Patricky Freire in the Bellator 183 main event this past weekend, he has vowed to do his best to make needed changes.
“I think that either way, win or lose, I need to stop having close fights,” Henderson told MMAjunkie after his loss. “(People say), ‘Oh, it was kind of close, maybe you could have won, you could have lost.’ Like, those close fights are killing me. It’s always nice to win a close fight, win a close split decision, but just being in close decision, close split decision, split decision (all in a row) – those are just too close to have. You can’t have those. You have to have a better performance win or lose. You got to be in more decisive battles. It sucks.”
Henderson went on record by saying that he is not sure what he needs to change in order to create a wider gap from the competition. If he had to take a jab at it, it would largely come down to activity.
“I think if I had a technical reason for it, maybe cage control or damage done while you have the cage control,” Henderson said. “Maybe the number of significant strikes thrown from cage control. You’ve got to find the way to word it, exactly. For whatever reason, earlier on, I was winning those really close decisions, and I’ll take it. Now I’m not winning close decisions, so I have to do better. I have to be better to get my hand raised in those close decisions.”
Following his departure from the UFC, Henderson’s time with Bellator has not gone as planned up to this point. He has decorated resume and had momentum on his side prior to his signing with the Viacom promotion.
Henderson made it clear there’s no piece of him that’s being turned off from the sport or forcing him to consider giving up.
“When you get to a point where you’re losing, and it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t sting, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I lost another one; oh, well’ (then you should retire),” Henderson said. “This burns my soul. This does not feel good. It is burning inside. You have to learn who to deal with it. Learn how to accept it, take it like a man, and get better from it. In no way, shape or form, am I not highly upset. But I know if I tear a TV off the wall and smash it, it doesn’t do anything. It’s just all theatrics. I know on Monday I need to get back in the gym and work on getting better, so I don’t have close decisions, period.”
“For me, it’s always get back in there right away,” Henderson said. “I’m pretty healthy. No black eyes or not beat up or too sore or nothing like that. I’d like to get back in there right away, but who knows what Bellator is going to say, match-wise, who I’m going to match up with next. That’s a whole spaghetti and pile of noodles I don’t want to worry about.”
Controversy cast doubt over a third fight in a third consecutive weekend; this time at last night’s (Sat., September 23, 2017) Bellator 183 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The main event between Benson Henderson and Patricky Freire featured an extremely close call, which Freire won by incredibly close and controversial split decision. […]
Controversy cast doubt over a third fight in a third consecutive weekend; this time at last night’s (Sat., September 23, 2017) Bellator 183 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
The main event between Benson Henderson and Patricky Freire featured an extremely close call, which Freire won by incredibly close and controversial split decision. As usual, many fervent angry mob inciters are calling it an extreme robbery, although it’ most likely not on the level of last weekend’s Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez travesty.
Derek Cleary had Henderson winning 29-28, and Wade Vierra and Marcos Rosales scored it as Patricky Pitbull winning 29-28 on both of their cards.
The loss, right or wrong, sent former UFC lightweight champ “Smooth’s” Bellator record to a brutal 1-3, with his only win ironically coming over Freire’s brother Patricio, whom he beat on an injury stoppage. The longtime veteran recently teased retirement, and with decisions like this, he may not want to stay around much longer.
Of course, he’s been on the other side of some incredibly close decisions, too. Check out the official scorecards for last night’s fight below. Were the scores off by as wide a margin as many believe?
Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson lost by way of a close split-decision to Patricky Freire at Bellator 183 on Saturday night Henderson is not afraid to admit that losing hurts. In fact, the 33-year-old can see a positive in his reaction what is his third loss in four fights in the promotion: it indicates […]
Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson lost by way of a close split-decision to Patricky Freire at Bellator 183 on Saturday night Henderson is not afraid to admit that losing hurts. In fact, the 33-year-old can see a positive in his reaction what is his third loss in four fights in the promotion: it indicates […]
The Bellator career of Benson Henderson has been turbulent. He’s enjoyed two title fights in two separate weight classes since jumping ship from the UFC in early 2016, but he lost them both.
After his loss in the Bellator 183 headliner he’s split again…
The Bellator career of Benson Henderson has been turbulent. He’s enjoyed two title fights in two separate weight classes since jumping ship from the UFC in early 2016, but he lost them both.
After his loss in the Bellator 183 headliner he’s split against the Pitbull brothers, first beating Patricio Freire and on Saturday losing an uninspiring scrap with Patricky Freire, he has seen his record in the promotion drop to 1-3. It seems, based on the broadcast and his name recognition, like his overseers were fixing to get him another title shot before too long, but you would have to think the whole thing will be met with some shoulder shrugs and confused looks.
Henderson’s legacy, in Bellator and beyond, is complex. There is quite a bit more to it than playing out the string in cage fighting before heading to serve his country in the military, whether that string is going poorly or not.
Bleacher Report Combat Sports Lead Writer Jonathan Snowden and MMA Featured Columnist Matthew Ryder considered that legacy coming out of Bellator 183, and this is what they came up with.
Ryder
I’ve struggled with Benson Henderson as an MMA commodity for years. In fact, I would say I’ve endured more gut-wrenching frustration and mind-bending bewilderment in relation to his career than any other in the sport.
That may seem odd to some considering his place as a respected, longtime UFC champion with a fairly old school, “anyone, anywhere, anytime” mentality, but it remains a fact.
I’ve felt for years that Henderson built whatever legacy he has on doing just enough to get by, often with the help of borderline blind cageside judges. I don’t think he beat Josh Thomson, I don’t think he beat Gilbert Melendez and I don’t think he beat Frankie Edgar—twice.
Bellator 183 was just another example of the narrow line he’s always walked, where he doesn’t do enough to win and relies on judges finding a way to give him the fight anyway.
In the alternate reality that exists in my head, Henderson is 20-12. He’s the owner of a decent enough career that has left me almost entirely uninspired. He falls a good distance short in practice of what he appears to be on paper, which is a WEC champion and a UFC champion of the toughest division in the sport who defended his belt in both promotions.
Am I going in a little too hard on one of Bellator’s marquee talents? Or does he even still qualify as a marquee talent after another loss Saturday?
Snowden
There is a certain feeling of kismet when a Benson Henderson fight goes to the judges’ cards. That’s not a hot take—just a statement of fact. Whether you agree with them or not, historically speaking a close scorecard is a Henderson card.
That was the case, at least, when he was in the UFC and the consistent beneficiary of either luck or largess. Bellator Benson, however, hasn’t been dealt the same strong hands. Three times he’s gone to the scorecards there. Three times he’s watched another man’s hand raised—twice by split decision.
His guardian angel has seemingly abandoned him, the only remnant the wings tattooed on his back.
None of this can erase the victories written in history’s permanent ink. He was UFC champion. He beat legends. We can’t take that away from him.
But perception is a trickier thing. And you’re absolutely right. Every time Henderson struggles, every time a close decision loss reminds us of a time he was granted an unjust victory, every five-minute round that feels like it lasts a calendar year diminishes him just a little bit more.
Five years ago, B/R named Henderson its Fighter of the Year. The author (a moron, I’ve been told) asked whether he could be the best ever. That, in retrospect, is a truly foolish question.
No one is wondering whether Henderson is an all-time great anymore. We’re wondering whether he has what it takes to compete in Bellator, the UFC’s little brother. And I wonder, Matt, is that a question worth answering for a man who once had such grand ambitions?
Ryder
My gut, wrenched again with anxiety after watching another thin margin in a Henderson fight, tells me that it is, but for something of a counterintuitive reason, I believe it is his regression to the mean—the market correction for the years he spent “winning” fights without really “beating” his opponents.
The value in answering it comes in seeing that what has happened to him in Bellator is a good lesson for those coming behind him, an illustration that an athlete can only rely on dimwitted judges and guardian angels for so long before it all comes back around.
Inasmuch as I ever feel Henderson looks good in his fights, I thought he looked good in this most recent outing. I scored the fight in his favor, and I thought he won pretty convincingly—again, inasmuch as he ever wins convincingly.
Shows what I know.
Saturday, those dimwitted judges and spiritual entities saw fit to hand the win to Patricky Pitbull, from whom I don’t remember a single piece of offense mere moments after the event has ended.
Is it worth answering for a man we thought might be the best to ever do this thing as recently as 2013? Maybe not in relation to him solely. But for others, it could be instructive of how dangerous a career based on riding out rounds and scoring points can be and how quickly it can go bad on you once it starts to turn.
Snowden
The MMA gods punish fighters who try to make a living sucking up to the judges. After all, the sport just wasn’t designed with such a fighter in mind.
The original UFC had no judges. A cross between pro wrestling and Brazilian street fighting, it simply didn’t need them.
A fight between two warriors couldn’t, in those days, be decided by anyone outside the cage. It was over when it was over—and someone either conceded or was incapacitated.
Eventually, the world’s final wild-west spectacle was tamed. It became sport. Judges were incorporated. Fighters were developed who never even seemed to think about ending a bout on their own terms.
Henderson is one of them. For years, that sufficed. But those darting dancers can’t guarantee long-term success. You win by the judge, and you die by the judge. And Henderson, of late, hasn’t been doing much winning.
On Saturday night, none of his strikes were thrown with the intention of knocking another man insensate. His was a game of movement, incessant, unyielding and a little bit annoying. Occasionally he darted in for a quick punch, body kick, or half-hearted takedown attempt, only to continue his endless trek around the cage when he was done.
Patricky Pitbull threw and landed the harder punches. It would have been hard for him not to. It wasn’t much—but it didn’t have to be.
At 33, and more than 30 fights into his career, it may be too late to change. Henderson is who he is. And in many cases, that’s just not enough.
Ryder
I’m inclined to agree Henderson can’t change. Truthfully, I wouldn’t imagine he would if he could. I would expect he’s delighted with what his approach has garnered for him over the years, what with the cold, hard record of success and championships we’ve outlined above.
Pro wrestling meets Brazilian street fighting, it ain’t.
Arguably no one has understood that better than Henderson. And as you said, he’s won by it, and he’s died by it. He died by it at Bellator 183, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and say he won’t win by it the next time we see him.
That’s his legacy. It would border on irresponsible to ignore it.
Anytime Benson Henderson enters the cage, you never quite know what to expect. But his Saturday night main event at Bellator 183 in San Jose, California, against Patricky Freire ended with the same result as his last fight.
A loss.
Saturday’s main eve…
Anytime Benson Henderson enters the cage, you never quite know what to expect. But his Saturday night main event at Bellator 183 in San Jose, California, against Patricky Freire ended with the same result as his last fight.
A loss.
Saturday’s main event was a back-and-forth war between two great fighters, but Henderson just didn’t do enough to warrant the win. While it can be argued Henderson was the more active fighter through three rounds, he wasn’t as effective with his strikes as Freire was.
A split-decision win for Freire (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) was well-earned.
With the loss, Henderson falls to 1-3 inside the Bellator cage, with the only win coming against Freire in their previous bout when Henderson won via TKO due to Freire’s freak leg injury.
But this time around, Freire came out with something to prove. In the first, both fighters had their moments as they felt each other out, each anxiously moving forward without too much volume, wary of each other’s ability to counterstrike.
The second round showed Henderson try to take the fight to Freire, shooting for a couple of takedowns, albeit unsuccessfully. The crowd grew frustrated with the fight since it wasn’t a slugfest like the other fights on this main card. Instead, it was a very technical bout Freire won primarily because of his performance in the third round, where he was able to connect with a couple of nice shots to Henderson’s body, including a shoulder that hit Henderson hard enough to make him stumble just a little bit.
At the end of the day, a split-decision victory is a hard way to lose a fight. And for Henderson, the clock is ticking on his career after yet another loss.
Here’s the full results from Bellator 183:
Main card
Goiti Yamauchi def. Adam Piccolotti via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:19 of R1
Aaron Pico def. Justin Linn via KO (punch) at 3:45 of R1
Paul Daley def. Lorenz Larkin via KO (punches) at 2:40 of R2
Roy Nelson def. Javy Ayala via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
Corina Herrera vs. Jaymee Nievara via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
Fernando Gonzalez def. Alex Lopez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ricardo Vasquez def. Justin Tenedora via submission at (2:39, Round 1)
J.J. Okanovich def. Luis Jauregui via submission (:42, Round 1)
Daniel Gonzalez def. Anthony Castrejon via KO (4:03, Round 1)
Yamauchi taps out Piccolotti
Putting his undefeated 9-0 record on the line, Adam Piccolotti came into Saturday night’s fight with a lot of confidence against Goiti Yamauchi, a veteran with a 21-3 record.
It didn’t take long for Yamauchi to look to assert his dominance on the ground by pulling guard fairly early in the first round as he attempted a guillotine, but he wasn’t able to sink his arm in deep enough to complete the choke.
However, Yamauchi was able to make Piccolotti work to get back up to his feet, eventually sinking a hook in to gain control of his back. His relentless pressure was becoming too much for Piccolotti, and he was able to sink his forearm underneath Piccolotti’s chin for a rear-naked choke, leading to a tap.
It was a short, yet impressive, performance for Yamauchi, who should surely get some more face time on main event cards in the foreseeable future.
Pico shuts the lights out for Linn
For Aaron Pico, Saturday’s fight was a career-defining bout, even though it was only his second-ever professional fight. But with so much hype surrounding him, he had to show up after a disappointing debut.
And, boy oh boy, did Pico deliver.
His debut loss will be long forgotten after his vicious knockout on Linn, who went crashing to the canvas. Not only was Pico’s finish the Knockout of the Night, it should also be in consideration for Knockout of the Year. Pico’s left hook won’t be soon forgotten, nor should it.
Even UFC Fighter Al Iaquinta chimed in, claiming Linn was, literally, lifeless on the canvas.
Here’s to many more highlight finishes for Pico, who came back in the best way possible from a loss.
Big Country puts on a show
It’s a bit surprising to see Big Country go the distance in a fight that had some serious strikes by both opponents, but his Bellator debut against Ayala was a very competitive, hard-fought three-round fight.
Ayala landed several good rights in the opening exchange, but Nelson was able to eat up the punches on his iron chin and continue to march forward. Ayala and Nelson found themselves in the clinch, where both looked to drop elbows on each other. Nelson found himself in full mount on Ayala near the end of the round, but couldn’t keep Ayala down long. A knee to the face courtesy of Ayala was a nice way to end the round, but Nelson won the first on my scorecard.
After a competitive first, Nelson took over.
Nelson clipped Ayala with a vintage right hand that we’ve all grown to love over the years during his UFC days, but Ayala stayed upright and continued to exchange. With two minutes left in the second round, Nelson was able to get Ayala in an uncomfortable position on the canvas, using his underrated grappling skills to sink two hooks in. Ayala got back up, but Nelson was able to secure another takedown shortly after taking a kick to the chin, dropping elbows on Ayala until the end of the round.
The third round was more of the same, with both fighters clearly feeling the effects of a back-and-forth fight.
Both fighters had their moments in the third, but Nelson was able to show his true grit, unleashing all the energy he had left in the final seconds of the round to win over the fans—and the judges.
A solid debut for Nelson, it’s good to see him back in the cage, doing what he does best.
Daley beats down Larkin
Who would’ve thought Lorenz Larkin would be 0-2 after his first two fights in Bellator?
After losing in his debut a few months back, Larkin was looking to make a statement against Paul Daley Saturday night. And after a strong showing in the first round, showcasing his beautiful striking and technique, it was safe to assume he would get back on track.
But Daley had other plans.
At the 2:40 mark in the second round, Daley landed a left hook that shook Larkin, sending him to the canvas for the knockout victory. The punch didn’t necessarily come out of left field, as Daley did look quite sharp in exchanges, but seeing Larkin go down the way he did was alarming.
Larkin was expected to beat Daley, so this puts him in a bizarre position in the welterweight division. It looks like he’ll have to move down in competition to gain some wins, while Daley climbs the rankings looking for a big fight. In fact, he had one in mind post-fight.
Benson Henderson is now 1-3 under the Bellator banner with his loss to Patricky Freire. Henderson moved forward, but Freire got out of danger. Freire threw a right hand. Henderson was off balanced momentarily. He went for a superman punch. A body kick was there for “Smooth.” Freire went for a spinning wheel kick. Time was […]
Benson Henderson is now 1-3 under the Bellator banner with his loss to Patricky Freire. Henderson moved forward, but Freire got out of danger. Freire threw a right hand. Henderson was off balanced momentarily. He went for a superman punch. A body kick was there for “Smooth.” Freire went for a spinning wheel kick. Time was […]
any believe?
