Ben Henderson: I Definitely Feel Like I Did Enough To Get The W

 

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson beat Josh Thomson in the main event of last night’s UFC on FOX 10, but it was with another controversial split decision. That method of victory has become Henderson’s calling card all too much during his UFC tenure, during which he has yet to finish a single opponent.

Many thought that “Punk” did enough to beat Henderson, repeatedly throwing “Smooth” to the canvas and gaining dominant positions. But, Henderson maintained a massive 114-33 striking advantage throughout the fight, a statistic that would suggest he deserved to eek by.

And not surprisingly, he’s one that agrees with that sentiment. “Smooth” spoke up at a post-fight interview with FOX Sports to give his take on the close win:

“I definitely thought that I’ve done enough to get my hand my hand raised, get the W.”

With last night’s main event potentially being for a coveted UFC lightweight title shot, Henderson didn’t do enough to convince Dana White he’s worthy of facing Anthony Pettis for a third time. When asked if he thought he had secured another shot at the belt, “Smooth” kind of danced around the topic:

“Um, I think you know as well as I do that matters not one little bit what do I think. It’s up to DW, Sean Shelby, Joe Silva, those guys, they’re the ones who dictate who fights who next, that stuff, all I can do is what I control inside the Octagon. Do what I can to get my hand raised, and let the chips fall where they may.”

On paper, Henderson did enough to get the victory, but things definitely may have been different had Thomson not injured his thumb. “Punk” was showing signs of the injury, something Henderson looked to capitalize upon:

“I was wondering what it was because he was shaking his hand, I wasn’t sure what it was. But I saw him doing something so I kept trying to kick it. I was like, ‘Ah, something hurts in his arm so I’m gonna keep attacking that, whatever it is.’ I didn’t know it was his thumb, but that’s what I was aiming for.”

At the end of the day, Henderson had high praise for “Punk,” who showed a ton of heart in fighting through his hand injury to put on a great performance:

“He’s a tough guy, class act, he’s a good guy. He’s a good guy, tough opponent, five rounds with him was pretty tough. Same with Gilbert. Those Strikeforce boys are pretty tough.”

Henderson famously squeaked by Thomson’s former Strikeforce rival Gilbert Melendez at last April’s UFC on FOX 7, and he did the same thing last night. There’s no doubt he’s a resilient and smart lightweight, but the bottom line is that he’s going to have to start finishing some fights if he wants the UFC to take him seriously as a title contender.

“Smooth” is in a very strange position in that he’s only lost twice in his last 20 fights, but both of those losses were to his division’s champion in Pettis. Still, Henderson will get another big fight, and he can probably solidify another shot at gold if he can finish an opponent like Melendez or Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, without one Octagon finish, it’s hard to think he can stop either one of those top contenders. Where does “Smooth” go from here?