Benson Henderson both impressed and suprised with TJ Grant’s performance
With his next opponent to be decided on the night of UFC 160, it would be foolish to think that Benson Henderson wasn’t watching the #1 contender’s bout carefully.
With both fighters coming out swinging strongly, it was ultimately TJ Grant who kept his cool, established his timing and proceeded to obliterate his opponent in extremely convincing and dominant fashion, something no other lightweight aside from Frankie Edgar has been able to do in history.
It’s safe to say that the MMA world was more than likely shocked at the outcome, and that statement is no different for Henderson, after watching the fight himself the UFC Lighweight champion stopped by to chat with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour regarding his immediate thoughts on the fight:
“I won’t lie, I am a little bit surprised. I think most people had Gray winning, most people picked Gray to win. Not only did T.J. prove everybody wrong, but the manner and the fashion in which he did it, pretty impressive performance for him.”
Just goes to show how underrated and relatively unknown Grant has been all along. With most casual fans unfamiliar with Grant and the betting odds completely against him, it’s no surprise that even Henderson wasn’t counting on him winning:
“I was already kind of mentally preparing for Maynard, And now I’ve got a new guy to mentally prepare for.”
“I don’t know a whole lot about T.J., to be honest. I know he’s, what, 5-0 at 155 now. He used to be a ’70 pounder. From what I’ve seen of him, just the little promos and hype and stuff, doesn’t seem too flashy but just one of those guys, a grinder, good fundamentals, solid. It’s going to be my job to learn all about him the next month or so.”
With all of the recent criticism Henderson has been recieving regarding his fighting style and close-edged victories, you would think he’d be as little frustrated or bothered by it but apparently the champion has remained unaffected choosing to believe that he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing to win and put on good performances in the process:
“I don’t think I need a finish. I think I just need to have a great performance,”
“As long as I have a great performance, it’ll all take care of itself.”
With rumours of Grant vs Henderson being considered as the main event for UFC on FOX Sports 1, it will be interesting to see if they actually go through with the relatively quick turn around time and book that date.
I can tell you one thing, with his dominant finish over Maynard, TJ Grant has established himself as a serious opponent who is sure to make the next Lightweight championship bout a very entertaining one.
