Josh Thomson Thinks Ben Henderson Is A Bigger Threat Than The Champion
Josh Thomson now faces Benson Henderson at UFC on Fox 10 in December, following Anthony Pettis’ withdrawal due to ANOTHER injury. The Lightweight champ has been plagued by injury since joining the UFC and will sit out yet another title fight, only this time he has the strap.
Thomson will look to improve on his TKO win over Nate Diaz, as he faces the former Champ in Bendo. Quite an interesting fight between two former Champions, and the former Strikeforce boss Thomson has an interesting point of view about it:
“Benson is so well rounded. Honestly, it’s like I’m looking at myself in a mirror, fight-wise, just with a left handed person. He offers everything from the grappling to the wrestling, the clinch work, the takedowns; it’s gonna be a tough fight. At any moment, the pace of the fight can change and go anywhere.”
“For me personally, stylistically, Benson is more of a threat than Pettis was. Not to mention that this is the opportunity to fight someone that has been the champ for the last couple years. For me, I think Benson has the bigger name. Not to take anything away from Pettis, but Henderson has been more active over the last two years, so there was no way I could pass on this opportunity.”
Thomson, speaking with Bloodyelbow.com, feels that Bendo could be more of a threat than the Champion that defeated him at UFC 164. MMA math just does not work, and Thomson could have a point here.
It would be interesting to see what would happen should Henderson topple Thomson when they meet, given that Pettis beat Henderson so convincingly. Surely a rematch so soon would be ill conceived. Perhaps if TJ Grant is well in time he could face the winner of Bendo/Thomson.
“With Pettis, you know he’s going to pretty much try to keep it on the feet the whole time. He’s not going to try and mix it up. Gil is sort of the same way. They’re kind of set in their ways on how they train and the focus on the things that they do. That’s worked for a lot of guys in their careers. Look at Randy Couture; he made a living off that, just punching in the clinch, pressing them up against the fence and taking them down.”
“I feel that with myself and with Benson, we really take the fight everywhere. Whenever an opportunity presents itself, we have the ability to seize it. I’ve told people before, I’m not the best in anything. I’m not the best stand-up guy, I’m not the best grappler, I’m not the best wrestler. The thing is, I have the ability to put a lot of things together and keep you guessing. Ben is the same way, and that makes both of us very dangerous.”
Thomson has added a nice angle in the Lightweight division, and he is proving to be a bit of a wild card. It would not surprise me at all if he defeats Bendo, although Henderson may be hungrier than ever with his loss against ‘Showtime still fresh in the memory.
