At UFC Fight Night 60, welterweight Brandon Thatch discovered something the world’s best lightweights have known for years.
Benson Henderson will suck the life out of you.
Thatch was supposed to have his launch party Saturday in his home state of…
At UFC Fight Night 60, welterweight Brandon Thatch discovered something the world’s best lightweights have known for years.
Benson Henderson will suck the life out of you.
Thatch was supposed to have his launch party Saturday in his home state of Colorado, beginning his ascension to contender status with a short-notice bout over the former 155-pound champion. Instead, Henderson gave him a crash course in what it takes to be one of the UFC’s best.
Obviously outsized and surely outgunned, Henderson weathered an early push from Thatch in their main event fight, eventually taking control and scoring a come-from-behind submission victory with just over a minute left in the fourth round.
He accomplished it with a formula he’s used most of his four-year run through MMA’s elite—being obstinate on the feet and deadly once the action hit the ground.
It was a shocking turn of events considering the size difference between the two and the fact Thatch had controlled the majority of the first 10 minutes. It also shook Henderson out of the doldrums of the last six months in a fashion exhilarating enough to earn him some cheers from the pro-Thatch crowd.
“I didn’t know if I could win this fight,” he admitted to play-by-play announcer Jon Anik inside the cage when it was over. “A lot of times you have to do something you don’t know (if you can do). Our biggest fear is not that we’re inadequate. Our biggest fear is that we’re powerful beyond measure.”
If the latter part of that quote is true, then Henderson seems pretty scary right now.
After a good start by Thatch, the momentum began to swing the underdog’s way in the third round, when for the first time he was able to take the bigger man to the mat. With a bit less than a minute-and-a-half gone in the period, Henderson ducked under a punch and backed Thatch against the cage with a double-leg attempt.
The two spent the next 25 seconds battling near the chain link before Henderson finally turned him toward the center and completed the takedown. In that round, Thatch defended well and, though Henderson rode his back all the way to the bell, kept good composure and staved off any threat of a submission.
In the fourth, he was not so lucky.
Thatch seemed well on his way to re-establishing dominance on the feet in the second-to-last stanza, until Henderson deftly ducked under another striking combination and blew him off his feet with a takedown at the midpoint of the round. Thatch scrambled to his feet, but Henderson dragged him down again, taking his back and forcing the tapout via slick rear-naked choke.
The loss was the first for Thatch since 2008. It snapped a string of 10 consecutive first-round victories, including two in the UFC that appeared to set the stage for big things. He was originally supposed to fight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in a main card bout, but after Fight Night 60 lost its main event and Thompson bowed out with injury, Thatch inherited a main event contest against Henderson.
In the first three rounds, it looked as though he would do the local fans proud. Though Henderson held his own and landed some stiff shots to the body, it seemed like only a matter of time before Thatch’s lashing punches and kicks would put the smaller man in trouble.
Whispers that perhaps Henderson had bitten off more than he could chew began to take hold:
The second saw Thatch toss Henderson to the mat with a pair of vicious trip takedowns. He also landed a high kick that appeared to sneak in past Bendo’s defenses. This was his first UFC fight to last longer than three minutes, however, and once the former champion survived the early storm and put Thatch on the ground, he exposed the 29-year-old up-and-comer’s biggest weakness.
“I knew he was going to come out like a monster in the first round—he did,” Henderson told Anik. “I was trying to use my movement. I didn’t want to run away, but dude is a big dude, so I didn’t want to stand there with him for the first five minutes. I wanted to be more elusive, and then in the second, third, fourth, fifth round, pick it up on him.”
The victory provides Henderson with a fresh burst of energy just when he needs it most. He took the bout two weeks ago and in a fit of desperation after dropping back-to-back fights at lightweight for the first time in his career. A pair of previous losses to Anthony Pettis also meant he likely wouldn’t earn a title shot in the UFC’s most competitive weight class anytime soon.
Leading up to the Thatch bout, he professed the jump to welterweight wouldn‘t be permanent. Now, in the wake of the victory, he’s not so sure. He called out top 170-pound contender Rory MacDonald in his postfight interview, and though UFC brass said MacDonald already has a different fight booked, welterweight suddenly seems an intriguing option for him.
For the first time since dropping his title to Pettis during the summer of 2013, it feels as though Henderson is on a meaningful path.
The sober, strategic move might be to head back to lightweight to continue fighting guys his own size, but after dispatching Thatch, at least Henderson finally has some interesting things to consider.
UFC Fight Night 60’s main event, a welterweight tilt between struggling former champion Ben Henderson and hotshot prospect Brandon Thatch, did not disappoint. The fight itself made no sense from a matchmaking perspective, but that did not keep the…
UFC Fight Night 60’s main event, a welterweight tilt between struggling former champion Ben Henderson and hotshot prospect Brandon Thatch, did not disappoint. The fight itself made no sense from a matchmaking perspective, but that did not keep the one they call “Smooth” and the Muay Thai specialist from putting on an exciting fight.
The first two rounds, as anyone who has seen Henderson would expect, were defined by measured striking exchanges. Henderson’s quickness and accuracy kept him on even footing against the long, strong Thatch, and media scores varied.
The third, however, saw Henderson identify and exploit the big hole in Thatch’s game—a marked lack of experience on the ground. Henderson would score a back take and chew up minutes on end with submission threats. Halfway through the fourth, Thatch again gave up his back to the wily veteran. This time, however, he would not be able to escape, and Henderson would sink in a rear-naked choke for the win.
In such a unique fight, which came about through such absurd circumstances, it is hard to peg any definite lessons, but a few things became clear here.
First and foremost is that Thatch is clearly, undeniably, a legitimate prospect. While some (myself included) questioned his “super-prospect” status, especially in a division that is already chock full of them, he proved any and all doubters wrong. He is long, he is powerful and his striking fundamentals are almost immaculate.
That said…his ground game needs work. A lot of work.
Thatch was arguably winning the fight exiting the third round, but when he was utterly unable to respond to Henderson’s ground game, it was only a matter of time before one of Henderson’s submission attempts stuck. The welterweight division, while not quite what it used to be, is still a tough weight class to climb through.
While the Colorado native can likely beat the majority of 170-pound fighters, he will absolutely need to fix that if he wants to compete with the likes of Ben Saunders, Gunnar Nelson or just about any other logical next opponent for him.
For Henderson, there is only one real takeaway; he is as good as ever.
This fight may have been a must-win for Bendo. Sure, his losses to Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone may carry asterisks. However, the UFC’s willingness to cut elite-level fighters due to a lack of drawing power and strong on-paper claims to title shots (Jake Shields being the best example) is clear at this point, and there is no debate that favors only go in one direction when it comes to the UFC (as DaMarques Johnson can attest to).
That said, there were serious questions regarding Henderson’s staying power in today’s crushingly deep lightweight division. While Thatch likely isn’t in the top 10 when it comes to Henderson’s all-time toughest opponents, Henderson showed that he still has strong striking, a steely chin, a high-level ground game and quite possibly the greatest scrambling skills in all of MMA.
He may or (far more likely) may not ever wind up getting another shot at the UFC lightweight belt, regardless of whether or not he winds up putting up a deserving winning streak. Either way, the skills to compete with any 155-pound fighter in the world remain.
Mixed martial arts is a chaotic sport where anything can and usually does happen.
The leadup to the UFC’s return to Denver for Fight Night 60 was a prime example of how hectic things can get at the highest level of the sport, as injury and circumstance…
Mixed martial arts is a chaotic sport where anything can and usually does happen.
The leadup to the UFC’s return to Denver for Fight Night 60 was a prime example of how hectic things can get at the highest level of the sport, as injury and circumstance battered the event’s lineup as fight night approached. The card’s original main event tilt between Matt Brown and TarecSaffiedine was scrapped when the Belgian striker fell out with injury, and rather than find “The Immortal” a replacement bout, the scrappy Columbus native was shipped off to UFC 185 in Dallas.
He will face former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in “Bigg Rigg’s” first bout since losing the strap in a bout figured to have heavy implications on a future title shot. In the aftermath of Brown being pushed to UFC 185, the promotion bumped Brandon Thatch versus Stephen Thompson up to the headlining slot at Fight Night 60. In addition to being a highly anticipated squabble, “Rukus” vs. “Wonderboy” was set to be an action-packed showdown between two of the welterweight division’s fastest-rising stars.
A rib injury would force the South Carolina native out of the bout just two weeks out from the event, and the UFC was left with very few options in the 170-pound fold. Nevertheless, in a strange and sudden turn, former lightweight champion Benson Henderson—who was only two weeks removed from his hard-fought loss to Donald Cerrone at Fight Night 59—agreed to go up a weight class and face the welterweight wrecking machine.
While “Smooth” has always been a vocal advocate of the “anytime, anyplace” mentality, stepping in against a fighter who had only been out of the opening round once in 12 fights—and doing so coming off back-to-back losses of his own—seemed to be a dangerous gamble. Furthermore, with Henderson being big for his former weight class and Thatch on the larger side of his current one, there was a drastic size difference between the two fighters.
This became crystal clear during their faceoff at the pre-fight weigh-ins on Friday, and Henderson’s already-difficult task of jumping up a weight class on short notice appeared to become even more Herculean in nature. Still, the former 155-pound champion has never been one to back down from a challenge, and did he ever step up to the plate.
Despite being on the short end of reach and weight, Henderson put on a career-defining performance as he chopped away at the dangerous striker until he put him away with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round. The former champion took the talented prospect into deep waters where he put him away in impressive fashion.
It was a roller coaster of a night at 1stBank Center in Broomfield. Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 60.
The Good
What a turnaround for Benson Henderson.
Following a loss to Donald Cerrone in his last fight, the former lightweight champion found himself in unfamiliar waters. Suddenly “Smooth” was sitting on back-to-back losses, and he was determined to buck that trend in the quickest way possible. If that meant going up a weight class to take a short notice fight against a versatile striker the likes of Brandon Thatch, that’s what he was going to do.
Henderson was willing to do anything to get back on track, and that’s exactly what he accomplished on Saturday night. The former WEC and UFC 155-pound champion used his speed and agility to stay out of reach of “Rukus” for the opening five minutes, then set about closing the distance where he saw fit. While Thatch was able to tag him a few times in the second round, Henderson went to his wrestling to neutralize the size and length advantage in the third round and turned the tide of the fight.
When the MMA Lab leader was able to put Thatch on the canvas again in the fourth, Henderson’s submission game took over and he closed out the fight. It was a spectacular performance for the Arizona-based fighter, and he kicked open a few doors in the process.
While Henderson is undoubtedly one of the elite lightweight fighters on the UFC roster, his showing at Fight Night 60 proved he’s just as game as a welterweight. No matter where Henderson decides to fight next, it is clear that he’s going to continue to land high-profile opponents. And that is good news for both weight classes.
The UFC’s featherweight division is more stacked than it’s ever been before, and Max Holloway is determined to carve out his place among the divisional elite.
The 23-year-old Hawaiian came into his bout with Cole Miller at Fight Night 60 riding a four-fight winning streak that took him from the prospect ranks and into the higher ground, where tougher competition resides. “Blessed” had earned finishes in each of his four recent victories, and a win over a gritty veteran the likes of Miller would stamp his passage into the next level of the weight class.
While Holloway was unable to put the American Top Team product away over the course of the 15-minute affair, his performance was certainly on point, as he dominated the action throughout. The majority of the opening round was spent with both fighters circling and feeling one another out, but once Holloway settled in it was his show from there. Holloway’s versatility made the difference in the matchup as he picked up the unanimous-decision victory on the judges’ scorecards.
And where the UFC typically waits a few weeks to pair up a winning fighter, Jon Anik told Holloway in his post-fight interview that there was a slot available opposite Cub Swanson at UFC on Fox 15 in April. The scrappy Hawaiian said he was down to make it happen, and it looks like the surging contender will square off with “Killer Cub” in Newark.
*** Neil Magny put himself in the UFC record books by notching five victories in 2014, and he came into Fight Night 60 looking to keep things rolling against KiichiKunimoto on Saturday night. The Colorado-based fighter put the pace and pressure on his opponent from the opening bell, and that work paid immediate dividends as Kunimoto began to wilt as the fight wore on. The Japanese veteran was saved by the bell at the end of the second round, and Magny wasted zero time resuming his attack in the final round. After he put Kunimoto on the canvas, The Ultimate Fighter 16 alum sank in a fight-ending rear-naked choke to bring his streak to six consecutive victories.
*** The UFC’s lightweight division is one of the most talent-rich collectives under the promotion’s banner, and Kevin Lee is starting to gain some traction. The 22-year-old Michigan native came into Fight Night 60 with a two-fight winning streak, and he made it three straight victories with a unanimous-decision victory over Michel Prazeres on Saturday night. While “The MoTown Phenom” ate a few shots early, his speed and pressure wore down the Brazilian slugger in the later rounds, and Lee dominated the action in the final two frames. With the win, Lee has solid momentum rolling and should draw a more established opponent in his next outing.
*** In addition to having one of the best nicknames in MMA, Ray Borg is also one of the most promising prospects in the flyweight division. At just 21 years old, “The Tazmexican Devil” has shown a versatile skill set and steady progress every time out. On Saturday night, the Albuquerque native picked up his second victory under the UFC banner when he dominated, then submitted Chris Kelades at Fight Night 60. Borg dominated every minute of the fight until he locked in a fight-ending kimura in the second round. While Borg may be a ways away from a title opportunity, if he continues to progress at the rate he’s moving, a championship fight will be in his near future.
*** No fighter on the card at Fight Night 60 needed was more desperate for a win than Efrain Escudero. Where the MMA Lab representative was once a promising prospect in the UFC fold, a pair of tough runs sent him back to competing on smaller stages around the sport. The TUF 8 winner was brought back for his third tour of duty in the UFC last September, but ultimately he found himself on the business end of a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Those circumstances made his fight with Rodrigo de Lima a must-win situation, and Escudero certainly stepped up to the challenge. While the Brazilian veteran had his moments throughout the fight, “Hencho En Mexico” kept his composure and stuck to his game plan. The result was Escudero claiming his first victory inside the Octagon since 2010, keeping his roster spot intact.
*** Team Takedown representative Chas Skelly certainly lived up to his “Scrapper” nickname at Fight Night 60 as he out-slugged Jim Alers in a barn-burner to pick up his third consecutive victory inside the cage. While Alers certainly had his moments in the opening frame, Skelly landed a series of bombs in the second round that left his opponent dazed against the cage. Once Alers was wounded, Skelly poured it on and secured the TKO finish in impressive fashion.
That said, the 29-year-old Texan definitely landed an illegal knee to Alers‘ head as he was already folded to the canvas. In the aftermath of the fight, commentator Brian Stann asked the commission about the strike, and was told the referee declared he was in the process of stopping the fight when the illegal blow landed.
*** Zach Makovsky has been vocal about wanting a shot at the UFC flyweight title, and he took another strong step toward making that happen on Saturday night. “Fun Size” outworked the always scrappy Tim Elliot to pick up the unanimous decision victory at Fight Night 60. While the Grindhouse MMA representative was on his back for the majority of the fight, that didn’t stop him from trying everything he could to score points. Nevertheless, Makovsky had the edge in what turned into a wild fight, and the Pennsylvania native has now won three of his four showings inside the Octagon.
*** While missing weight in your UFC debut is never a good thing, James Moontasri did everything he could to erase his initial misstep against Cody Pfister. From the opening bell, Pfister went all out to put his opponent on the ground, but “Moonwalker” answered those attacks with a knee or kick at every turn, forcing “The Fist” to get more and more desperate with each takedown attempt. Moontasri eventually stunned Pfister with a hard shot and finished off the action with a rear-naked choke to solidify a successful debut inside the Octagon.
The Bad
It may be time for NikLentz to change his nickname.
While the Minnesota representative has used “The Carny” moniker throughout his professional career, there is now enough evidence to support Nik “Bad Luck” Lentz being a more justified descriptor. There is certainly no denying the former lightweight turned featherweight grappler has talent, but misfortune has seemed to hover above him as of late.
After bouncing back from his loss to Chad Mendes in December of 2013 with a win over ManvelGamburyan five months later in Ohio, 2014 appeared to a year where the 145-pound grinder could make some moves up the featherweight divisional ranks. That said, his rematch with Charles Oliveira at Fight Night 50 fell apart at the 11th hour as “Do Bronx” first missed weight by five pounds at the weigh-ins, then ultimately fell ill on the day of the bout and the fight was scrapped.
Unfortunately for Lentz, the 30-year-old veteran was unable to secure another bout before the year came to a close and was forced to turn his hopes toward 2015. His long-awaited opportunity to return to the Octagon was slated to happen on Saturday at Fight Night 60 in Denver, but it would be Lentz who fell victim to illness and was forced to withdraw from his bout against LevanMakashvili.
Lentz being forced to drop out of Fight Night 60 is not only his second consecutive fight that was scratched before ever seeing the Octagon, but those unexpected turns have prevented him from keeping up with a divisional upper tier that is on fire at the current time the way the 145-pound weight class is. The ascension of Irish star ConorMcGregor has shifted the featherweight collective into hyper-drive, and Lentz is in danger of being left by the wayside.
That is an unfortunate turn for a fighter who has won four of his five showings since dropping down to featherweight in 2012, but Lentz was already fighting an uphill battle. His wrestling-heavy attack has never been the most entertaining presentation inside the Octagon, but he was in the process of reversing that stigma before his sudden turn of poor luck.
While what happened to Lentz was beyond his control, one fighter who has zero excuses for what went down in Broomfield was Patrick Walsh.
Not only did the 26-year-oldTUF 19 alum fail to make weight on Friday, he then proceeded to put on one of the worst fights in recent memory. Granted, it certainly takes two to tango and his opponent Daniel Kelly didn’t win any fans, but he ultimately won the fight. The UFC has a long track record of not taking too kindly to fighters who fail to hit the contracted weight limit, and they certainly won’t have any sympathy for a fighter who then proceeds to get into the Octagon and fight the way Walsh did.
There were other bouts outside of the should-have-been-middleweight disaster on the main card that garnered boos from the crowd at 1stBank Center on Saturday night, but none that presented the level of despair as Kelly vs. Walsh brought. Again, Kelly has very little to be proud of for how he performed on Saturday night, but at least he made weight and did enough to win the fight.
If Walsh is allowed to make another walk to the Octagon, it’s all but guaranteed there will be a stern conversation to be had with UFC brass before that happens.
The Strange
While there were plenty of curious happenings in the leadup to Fight Night 60, once the action got underway in Broomfield, things were relatively normal. I know what you are thinking and I agree. How does a UFC fight card go down without anything strange taking place? And as crazy as that is to write; that was simply the case on Saturday night.
Still, that’s not to say there were not issues with how things went down in the mile high elevation of the Rocky Mountains. Where Denver’s elevation didn’t turn out to do all too much damage to the fighters throwing leather inside the Octagon, the viewers watching at home had to think the show’s production was being zapped by the thin air surrounding 1stBank Center.
Due to Fight Night 60 having six fights on the main card, the pacing of the event presented a serious struggle for anyone tuning in. Where the preliminary portion of the card featured some action-packed squabbles and a pair of finishes, the bouts on the main card were coated in molasses. Granted, this is more than likely do to the talent level of the fighters who were showcased, but that wasn’t the entire reason the majority of the showcased portion of Fight Night 60 struggled.
The opening bout saw flyweight prospect Ray Borg thrash Chris Kelades until “The Taxmexican Devil” put his opponent away with a kimura in the final round. The next bout featured up-and-coming lightweight Kevin Lee as he out-hustled Michel Prazares to pick up the unanimous decision win. Those two fights made for a decent start to Saturday night’s event, but it’s what came after that proceeded to suck the life out of card.
A catchweight sludge-fest between Dan Kelly and Patrick Walsh was painful to watch and served as a strong reminder that NBA’s All-Star weekend was going down on another channel. When the commercial for UFC 184 and Cat Zingano’s scream was played for what felt like the 50th time, it only added to the feeling that Fight Night 60 was taking forever.
The action would pick up toward the end of the card, but the damage had already been done. By the time Max Holloway and Cole Miller stepped in for the co-main event, the ever-present fighting faithful were barely holding on by a thread. Where Twitter is normally thriving with commentary and analysis during a UFC fight card, the social media realm had the collective disdain of an entire collective of people sitting impatiently at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
With a mass phenomenon like fight fans and media agreeing something was difficult to get through going down on Saturday night, there is no other way to categorize it other than strange.
Yet, on a different note, everything turned around at the end due to Benson Henderson putting on the performance of his career against a much larger, stronger, longer Brandon Thatch.
That’s MMA folks. That’s the ride we sign up for.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
UFC Fight Night 60 hits Broomfield, Colorado on Valentine’s Day to give fans all the face-punching action they require on the holiday of love.
In the main event, rising welterweight prospect Brandon Thatch takes on former lightweight champion Benson He…
UFC Fight Night 60 hits Broomfield, Colorado on Valentine’s Day to give fans all the face-punching action they require on the holiday of love.
In the main event, rising welterweight prospect Brandon Thatch takes on former lightweight champion Benson Henderson. Featherweights Max Holloway and Cole Miller meet in the co-main event in a fight sure to deliver excitement.
The card is a 10-fight event after NikLentz was pulled from action at the weigh-ins with an illness. All 10 fights can be seen on Fox Sports 1 starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Bleacher Report will be here all night long to cover the bouts and provide analysis for each and every fight. Check back for all your UFC Fight Night 60 coverage when James Moontasri and Cody Pfister kick off the card later tonight.
Win or lose on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 60 in Broomfield, Colorado, Benson “Smooth” Henderson is an absolute warrior. The former lightweight champion is making a rather hasty jump up to 170 pounds to face one of the most dangerous and explosiv…
Win or lose on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 60 in Broomfield, Colorado, Benson “Smooth” Henderson is an absolute warrior. The former lightweight champion is making a rather hasty jump up to 170 pounds to face one of the most dangerous and explosive young fighters in the division in Brandon “Rukus” Thatch.
Originally, the main event was supposed to pit TarecSaffiedine against the exciting Matt Brown. Saffiedinewithdrew due to an injury. The first replacement for that spoiled main event was Thatch taking on the exciting Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but the latter also withdrew because of an injury.
The ever-ready Henderson stepped in and up in weight to face Thatch in what could be an epic and interesting clash. Here’s how you can watch the entire event, as well my prediction for every fight on the card.
Both Henderson and Thatch are hungry for success and Colorado natives. Thus, the crowd should be intense and the action fierce in this ever-changing main event.
Henderson has lost his last two fights, but both defeats came against elite fighters and under controversial circumstances. In Aug. 2014, Henderson was defeated via TKO by Rafael dos Anjos. Henderson was undoubtedly hurt by the right hand dos Anjos landed in the first round of their bout, but it appeared referee John McCarthy might have stepped in prematurely to stop the bout.
Most recently—like less than a month ago—Henderson dropped a unanimous decision to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone on Jan. 18 at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. I scored the bout for Henderson, but all three judges scored it 29-28 for Cerrone.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the proud Henderson, but with two straight losses in the very competitive 155-pound division—and two defeats to current champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis—Henderson’s chances of getting a title shot at 155 anytime soon seem bleak.
Because of that, a move to 170 pounds makes more sense than it might seem at first glance. Still, per Damon Martin of FoxSports.com, Henderson says he doesn’t plan on staying at 170 pounds permanently. Henderson told Martin:
We don’t think of it as a permanent move. There are some other matchups at 170 that are pretty intriguing to us, so if the right matchups come along, we’d still be open to going up to 170 again. But as far as staying at 170? Probably not. I’m probably going back down to 155.
Rukus is looking to make his stay at welterweight a very short one. Injuries have kept Thatch out of the Octagon since a TKO victory over Paulo Thiago in Nov. 2013.
Thatch’s ability to finish opponents quickly and violently has made him one of the brightest young stars in the sport. He’ll clearly have a size advantage over Henderson in this bout. His length and quickness should be enough to curtail any edge in speed the naturally smaller Henderson might enjoy.
The only chance Henderson has to win this fight is to take it to the mat, but Thatch’s striking is simply too good, and that will lead to a second-round TKO for the fast-rising 29-year-old.
Holloway Wins It on His Feet
Max “Blessed” Holloway was supposed to have already made his mark in the featherweight division, but tough losses to three of the division’s best (ConorMcGregor, Dustin Poirier and Dennis Bermudez) served as a detour to stardom.
Recently, Holloway has gotten back on track with with four straight wins, all finishes. On Saturday, in the co-featured bout, Holloway will take another step toward the Top 10 when he faces Cole Miller.
When it comes to speed and striking, there’s no question Holloway has a clear edge over Miller. He’s quicker and more accurate, per FightMetric (42 percent to 34 percent).
Look for Blessed to pick Miller apart in the stand-up game and to thwart attempts to take him down en route to a third-round TKO victory. Holloway will fight for a world title one day. The early losses were a setback, but at 23 years old, he still has plenty of time to make a significant move up the 145-pound ladder.
The Long Arms of Magny Lead to Victory
The advantage that Neil Magny has over most foes is the same one he’ll enjoy when he faces KiichiKunimoto on Saturday night. Magny‘s 80″ reach is an extraordinary weapon for any welterweight.
His length should allow him to keep Kunimoto on the end of his jab and leg kicks throughout his bout. Kunimoto is a submission expert who must get the fight to the ground to topple Magny.
Surely Magny knows that, and he will protect against the takedown. In his UFC career, Magny has stopped 70 percent of the takedowns attempted against him. That skill and his length will lead to a unanimous-decision win.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
No matter what happens when Benson Henderson takes on Brandon Thatch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 60 on Saturday, we’re probably going to need an asterisk or two.
Henderson vs. Thatch isn’t a fight that figures into anyone’s l…
No matter what happens when Benson Henderson takes on Brandon Thatch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 60 on Saturday, we’re probably going to need an asterisk or two.
Henderson vs. Thatch isn’t a fight that figures into anyone’s long-term plans, nor one we even could’ve anticipated as recently as a month ago. Make no mistake, there are clear stakes here for each guy, as Bendo moves up from lightweight to make a short-notice appearance at 170 pounds.
It’s just that putting it all in perspective will likely take some footnotes.
Obviously, this wasn’t the original blueprint. When UFC brass first marked it up on the whiteboard at ZuffaLLC headquarters, a stunningly relevant 170-pound contender bout between Matt Brown and TarecSaffiedine* was meant to headline the Valentine’s Day spectacular in Broomfield, Colorado.
(*Asterisk No. 1: Neither of those guys are to be found now, of course. A groin injury knocked Saffiedine out of the running in January. With him gone, Brown wisely decided to risk taking a shorter cut to the top, in a fight against former champion Johny Hendricks at next month’s UFC 185.)
Option B was to line Thatch up with the 32-year-old “Wonderboy” Stephen Thompson*, a guy who sports a 5-1 record through three years in the UFC but still hasn’t made much of an impact.
(*Asterisk No. 2: Thompson made it all of 16 days before a rib injury forced his removal.)
Luckily, all this chaos dovetailed nicely with Henderson’s newfound desperation.
For the first time in his career the former lightweight champion finds himself on the heels of back-to-back losses, after a questionable judges’ decision to Donald Cerrone last month. If you know anything about Henderson—besides the ponytail, the toothpick and the penchant for close fights—it’s easy to assume he’s not taking that lightly.
So, he swooped in, graciously granting Fight Night 60 a main event that—if you step back and squint—is in most ways much improved from the notion of Thatch-Thompson.
Either way it goes, Henderson says the move to welterweight won’t last long*.
“It’s definitely not permanent moving up to 170,” he told AXS TV’s Inside MMA last week. “It was more of a one-time thing. I’ve asked to move to 170. I’ve asked for the short notice fights. I’m not going to back down now. Let’s do it. Sign me up.”
(*Asterisk No. 3: Sure, maybe he goes back to 155. Unless he wins, though, right?)
Henderson is a big lightweight who has always hinted at a possible welterweight run. Back when he was champion, his camp made some ill-fated feints at the idea of a superfight with Georges St-Pierre, until the groans from the peanut gallery drowned out the conversation.
So, if he were to defeat Thatch*, the comfy confines of the welterweight arena—with its fresh matchups and less demanding weight cut—could suddenly start to look more appealing to Henderson.
(*Asterisk No. 4: Which, let’s face it, is totally possible.)
We already know he’s mostly played out the string at lightweight. With two previous losses to current champion Anthony Pettis, he’s just spinning his wheels waiting for some enterprising No. 1 contender to come along and reset the clock.
When you think about it that way, new life at welterweight could be just the ticket.
Meanwhile, a defeat at the hands of Thatch*—while obviously not preferable—wouldn’t be the end of the world.
(*Asterisk No. 5: Thatch is currently going off as a slight favorite, according to Odds Shark.)
We’re still very much in the process of figuring out exactly how good the 29-year-old muay thai specialist can be, but early signs point to, you know, pretty good. If Henderson loses to the larger, younger man, he’ll shuffle back to 155 pounds with a trio of losses but without a ton of extra damage to his already hobbled UFC standing*.
(*Asterisk No. 6: Small victories, eh?)
For Thatch, the lines of demarcation are drawn a bit more definitively. His current streak of 10 consecutive first-round stoppage victories is one of the more under-the-radar stats in the Octagon right now. That run includes his first two bouts in the UFC and has garnered him some next-big-thing hype.
“Guaranteed world champion,” coach Trevor Wittman told MMAFighting.com’s Chuck Mindenhall after Thatch dispatched Paulo Thiago in Nov. 2013. “No doubt in my mind. World champion. He’s just so talented.”
But Thatch has had hard time holding a spot in our minds. He tore his labrum in the Thiago* fight and has been out 15 months rehabbing.
(*Asterisk No. 7: He was briefly linked to a bout with Jordan Mein last August but had to pull out of that booking with a toe injury.)
This weekend represents Thatch’s chance to not only re-enter the Octagon, but to re-emerge on the crowded UFC stage. Henderson shapes up as his best-known and most dangerous opponent to date, even if he is from a lower weight class.
If Thatch can beat him, he’ll be able to truthfully shout from the rooftops that he’s taken out a former UFC champion* and is ready for bigger challenges.
(*Asterisk No. 8: You’ll have to look pretty closely to see the fine print: Lightweight champion).
Thatch seems to know that, effectively telling Fox Sports’ Damon Martin that he hopes his performance can rekindle his status as a hot prospect after so much time away.
“I need this fight to be an exclamation point*,” Thatch said. “Time off is the worst thing that you can have as an athlete and I don’t see myself having any more. I’m manifesting a healthy 2015 and I’ll stay as healthy and as active as I can this year.”
(*Asterisk No. 9: An exclamation point is a punctuation mark used to indicate an exclamation, in this case an emphatic statement. Different from an asterisk.)
On the flip side, a loss to Henderson might well be taken as conclusive proof that Thatch isn’t going to develop into the guy we expect him to be.
It won’t be a deal-breaker, but it would certainly further stall the-up-and-comer’s momentum.
Either way, we won’t know what this bout truly means until after the fact. Until then, out fingers linger expectantly over Shift-8*.
(*Asterisk No. 10: Hitting Shift-8 on a standard U.S. keyboard results in an asterisk.)
At UFC Fight Night 60, welterweight Brandon Thatch discovered something the world’s best lightweights have known for years.