As Benson Henderson prepares for his big fight this Saturday night with Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 60, replacing an injured Stephen Thompson many fight fans wonder what Benson Henderson they will be seeing?
Is it the one who won two decisions over Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar in 2012 to take his title? Or it the same Benson Henderson who suffered a submission loss to Anthony Pettis, at UFC 164 dropping his Lightweight Championship in the process?
His attempt to start a winning streak back to the title started off well enough a decision win over the dangerous and highly ranked Josh Thomson and then submitting Rustam Khabilov in his next outing. However, all the good momentum stopped when he got brutally knocked out by Rafael Dos Anjos last August.
He was determined to bounce back from the loss to Dos Anjos and took a fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night last month in Boston. It looked like he was much more aggressive in this fight and came out strong mixing leg kicks and body shots.
He had already beaten Cerrone twice in WEC and looked to get the best of him this night as well, however the judges saw it differently and awarded Cerrone the controversial but unanimous decision because of two takedown Cerrone had.
Now Henderson once again fights on short notice against Thatch. At 11–1, Brandon Thatch is no pushover. He is fresh of a back to back wins by stoppage in his first two UFC encounters. He knocked out Justin Edwards in only 1 minute and 23 seconds.
Then he followed that up with first round submission in only two minutes and forty seconds with a vicious knee to the body to stop UFC veteran Paulo Thiago. This will not be a walk in the park for Henderson and his camp and fans have to hope he wasn’t too eager to get over the back to back losses so quickly that he took this fight hastily.
Henderson is still one of the best Lightweights in all of MMA, but if he loses this fight, he may never again get a title shot. This is a huge risk for Henderson with very little reward. As a fan of his this reporter is pulling for him to win, but nothing in the world of MMA is every sure thing.
Only time will tell of the risk was worth the reward for Henderson.
Until next time next fight fans! No Blood : No Foul