Ben Henderson Wants His Belt Back From Anthony Pettis

Benson Henderson will fight Josh Thomson in the main event of Saturday’s UFC on Fox 10, in a bout to decide the next contender to Anthony Pettis’ 155lb. title. ‘Smooth’ will fight for the first time since losing his championship to ‘Showtime’ back at UFC 164, and his return fight against ‘The Punk’ is no easy task.

That being said, there is a chance that Henderson and Pettis will be squaring off in the near future, so what changes, if any, will Bendo have made in his game? He stopped by to talk with MMAFighting to discuss the second fight with Pettis and more:

“”I made mistakes against Frankie Edgar. I made mistakes against Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez. Just so happens, Anthony Pettis was the first guy to really capitalize on my mistakes and to end the fight. I didn’t have the good posture that I like inside someone’s guard,”

“I didn’t want to tap to that, so I moved my arm and gave him the straight armlock on my elbow,” Henderson continues. “It was a great, technical armlock on Anthony’s part. He did a really good job of going from the armlock, switching to the shoulder — slight adjustment of his body, the angle of his squeeze going to my shoulder — and then when I protected my shoulder, he switched right away and went for the elbow.”

From a technical standpoint, Pettis’ armbar was a sight to behold. As a fan, he ran through Henderson. So what will Bendo have to offer Pettis in a third match? That answer is yet to be revealed, but ‘Smooth’ then gave his two cents on ‘The Punk’:

“He’s one of the most true veterans,” Henderson says. “He’s been everywhere, he’s seen everything. Not just with who’s he’s fought — he’s fought all over the world, he’s fought a ton of different guys — but also, who he trains with. People don’t realize, it’s who you train with. He’s seen all these new tricks, all these different tricks. ‘Oh yeah, you’ve got a new trick? I saw that 10 years ago. Kawajiri tried to do that against me’ There’s not going to be anything that surprises him.”

“When I get my belt back, I hope the man who has the belt still is Anthony Pettis,” Henderson says thickly. “We’ll see. I have no idea, but I’m getting my belt back. And if he’s the one I’m taking it from, fine by me.”

Henderson seems very motivated, could it be that he has reinvented himself in the wake of such a humiliating loss? He has always been very mentally strong, but perhaps that was one of his weaknesses. Bendo had said before the second Pettis fight that he would break the Lightweight title defense record for the UFC; perhaps overconfidence contributed to his (lack of) submission defense in Milwaukee.