UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson (19-2) has earned three successful title defences since claiming the belt at UFC 144. But he’s also earned his fair share of critics. Some fans believe the judges got it wrong in two of those defences. While he was more than convincing against Nate Diaz, they argue he got lucky in his rematch against Frankie Edgar and split decision win over Gilbert Melendez. Critics of Henderson’s style point to his UFC record, which includes seven fights for seven decision victories. But ”Smooth” says it’s not his fault. Watch the full MMA Hour interview here.
“What’s going to happen, I think, sadly, is a lot of guys are going to do the Frankie Edgar game plan. We thought that Gilbert was going to be super-aggressive, like hyper-aggressive and just come out and go get me and be after me the entire time. But if you watch the fight, he was a lot more elusive. He was bouncing around, he kind of waited for his shots, waited, waited, waited, waited, waited, and then sprung forward and tried to land a couple of combos, a couple of shots. We think he had a lot more of a Frankie game plan. He never threw any leg kicks before, maybe three or four leg kicks in the entire three fights, four fights before we faced off. We think he got the leg kicks from Frankie. It didn’t really hurt or anything, but it scored him points. He knew he could land it because my right leg is so far forward. He knew he could land it and score points, the same way Frankie did, and then be elusive. So, we think a lot of our fights are sadly going to be that way … The closest fight was probably that (second) Frankie Edgar fight. Some guys are going to stick to that game plan, they’re going to try to do what he did; be elusive, be in-and-out, not give me a whole chance to come forward and get my hands on them. If I can go forward and get me hands on somebody, like Nate Diaz, I’ll do that all day long, trust me. I like putting on entertaining fights, I like beating the crap out of people, but if they’re not conducive to that, then you know, it is what it is. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get the ‘W.’ If they don’t want to come forward and scrap, throw down the way Nate and I did, then what am I going to do? I’m not going to just charge forward and let someone punch me so I can get my hands on them. It’s stylistic match-ups. Somebody like Nate, who’s a fighter’s fighter, who walks forward and gets after it, him and I put on a heck of an entertaining show.”