Josh Thomson vs. Benson Henderson Fight Breakdown

Benson Henderson and Josh Thomson will go to war at UFC on Fox 10, in a fight to decide the next contender to Anthony Pettis’ Lightweight title. Former champ Bendo will look to bounce back from his humiliating defeat against ‘Showtime’ at UFC 164, where Pettis steamrolled through him en route to a first round submission win.

So lets take a look at the breakdown of their credentials/style to see how they match up:

Submission grappling

Both men are black belts in Jiu Jitsu; Thomson in Guerilla JJ, and Henderson in the more traditional Brazilian style. Bendo certainly has the experience factor going for him though, as he has competed in many BJJ tourneys and won a total of seven gold medals for his efforts.

This is MMA though, not a grappling tournament and Bendo’s last performance showed that anything can happen in a fight. Henderson holds six actual submission wins with two variations in technique, to Thomson’s eight actual MMA submissions with five variations. Both are very busy and dangerous submission fighters and, regardless of outside experience, I’m calling it a dead heat at 50/50

Wrestling

Both guys were division I wrestlers in their day, with Bendo racking up a few more credentials than Thomson did. Its not too often that we see Henderson use his wrestling base, as he often prefers to use his Tae Kwon Do to best opponents on the feet. The wrestling base is there though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes back to it against ‘The Punk’.

We’ve seen the strength of Thomson’s wrestling in MMA, and it is a known fact that Bendo has huge talent in the category.  Once again, I’ve got to call it 50/50.

Striking

Both guys have excellent striking abilities; Bendo is a black belt in TKD and Thomson trains out of the notorious American Kickboxing Academy. Their styles do have a specific contrast though, mainly in the power department. Thomson showed us his KO abilities in his victory over Nate Diaz, but his incredible switching of stances could negate Henderson’s southpaw advantages.

Henderson has only scored two career knockouts to Thomson’s five, and Thomson’s technique has improved vastly in recent years. Although Henderson may still be the more studied fighter, Thomson has the more fitting style of MMA striking. I’m going to give ‘The Punk’ a slight edge at 60/40

This is a very close fight on paper, and one that has me very intrigued.