Cutting to 155 from 'a little too much,' UFC champ Henderson fights future move to 170

If Benson Henderson were in the throes of a weight cut, a night at a restaurant would be one of those experiences filed under "Reasons why it sucks to be an MMA fighter."

There's a little less than two months until his title fight with Nate Diaz, however, and Henderson has the freedom to be a little more liberal than usual with his diet.

He polishes off an entree, finishes a neglected appetizer and orders dessert during an interview at Elliott's Oyster House in Seattle.

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Damn, he may run into some serious trouble with the top 10 of WW. Obviously he isn't a small LW but those WW have been throwing around guys at least 15 pounds heavier if not more. Hopefully he can continue a good run at LW before nature catches up with him.

he's a big LW but the top WW's are huge. when you hear things like Koscheck walking around at 200lb+ and alves getting back up to 197lbs just a few hours after weigh-ins. i think a move to WW would be a bad idea for bendo. from a fans point of view though, there could be some good fights for him at WW i just dont see him being at the top. remember when rory McD brutalized little diaz at WW? and thats who bendo is gonna fight

What they said.

(by the way, great article. Bendo seems really intelligent)

What she said

Id love to see some guys beat him down and take him down at Welterweight...


I really hate his style...His striking is weak and his TDD wouldnt work against GSO Fitch hendricks....

I think a guy like Martin Kampmann would dot his face all up...the way he got the last fight which most thoguht Frankie won and hes talking a move up is kinda a joke...Move up and become irrelevant...

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Posted by kingsmasher

Id love to see some guys beat him down and take him down at Welterweight...


I really hate his style...His striking is weak and his TDD wouldnt work against GSO Fitch hendricks....

I think a guy like Martin Kampmann would dot his face all up...the way he got the last fight which most thoguht Frankie won and hes talking a move up is kinda a joke...Move up and become irrelevant...

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Posted by kingsmasher

Id love to see some guys beat him down and take him down at Welterweight...


I really hate his style...His striking is weak and his TDD wouldnt work against GSO Fitch hendricks....

I think a guy like Martin Kampmann would dot his face all up...the way he got the last fight which most thoguht Frankie won and hes talking a move up is kinda a joke...Move up and become irrelevant...

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Cocky ^^^, he's definitely insane on the ground with wrestling a jitz like a Jon Fitch, and probably about as strong as a fitch after bulk.

He got beat by a FW last fight (if Edgar actually moves down)...mid tier fighters like Diego Sanchez and Rick Story will bully him around

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Posted by kingsmasher

Id love to see some guys beat him down and take him down at Welterweight...


I really hate his style...His striking is weak and his TDD wouldnt work against GSO Fitch hendricks....

I think a guy like Martin Kampmann would dot his face all up...the way he got the last fight which most thoguht Frankie won and hes talking a move up is kinda a joke...Move up and become irrelevant...

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just when i dont think you can outdo your latest stupid statements......YOU DO!

congrats.

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Posted by kingsmasher

Id love to see some guys beat him down and take him down at Welterweight...


I really hate his style...His striking is weak and his TDD wouldnt work against GSO Fitch hendricks....

I think a guy like Martin Kampmann would dot his face all up...the way he got the last fight which most thoguht Frankie won and hes talking a move up is kinda a joke...Move up and become irrelevant...

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i think his striking is actually pretty good. his kicks have a pretty high landing percentage. Frankie caught a lot of them but it was after they landed. and his TDD is good as well. i do agree with you that kampman would probably out strike him though

The only problem I have with Benson's style is it seems like he fights for decisions. His style doesn't really lean him towards knocking people out or subbing them. He's fast picks his shots and does that until the fight is over. Whatever works I guess. Does wonders for GSP. Still their fun to watch.

However moving up to WW is a bad move IMO. Lots of guys that can bully him around

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Posted by ghandikush

What they said.

(by the way, great article. Bendo seems really intelligent)

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Bendo seems really intelligent? I don't like to bash fighters but personally I think Bendo is one of the dimmest bulbs in the pack.

I think he needs to move up to 170lbs though. He is way too big for the LW division. I think he would fit in just fine at 170lbs.

I think his size will be fine for welterweight. There is an exagerration of in-shape sizes by many people. When a 5'9" guy like Thiago Alves or a 5'11" guy with thin hips like Josh Koschek goes over 200 pounds it is because they are getting fat, not because they have gigantic frames. Henderson will be similarly sized to most of the guys he faces, particularly when you consider that he can focus less on weight cutting and more on weight lifting once the burden of making 155 is removed.

But...I think the WW division will be very difficult for him stylistically. The quality of wrestling at WW is the best in the UFC. You have two NCAA champs (Kos and Hendricks) as contenders as well as solid BJJ/wrestler combo in Fitch...and none of them can wrestle as well as the champ. Plus the range of the strikers like Kampmann, Condit and Diaz is going to expose a guy like Henderson to prolonged damage before he can take them off their feet. So I guess I agree that he will struggle at WW--at least against the top guys--but I think this is a matter of style and quality of opponents more than body size.

I just don't think he'd be as competitive at WW. He'd be dealing with a variety of 6foot 200lbers, as others have already said. The other guys would all have the height, the weight and the reach advantage.

If the weight cut is that hard and it's negatively affecting him though, he should make the move but just not be that shocked when he becomes more of a middle-of-the-pack kind of fighter. The talent at WW is just too stacked right now.

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Posted by Sir_Karl

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Posted by ghandikush

What they said.

(by the way, great article. Bendo seems really intelligent)

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Bendo seems really intelligent? I don't like to bash fighters but personally I think Bendo is one of the dimmest bulbs in the pack.

I think he needs to move up to 170lbs though. He is way too big for the LW division. I think he would fit in just fine at 170lbs.

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Agree with everything you said

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Posted by jay98107

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Posted by Sir_Karl

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Posted by ghandikush

What they said.

(by the way, great article. Bendo seems really intelligent)

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Bendo seems really intelligent? I don't like to bash fighters but personally I think Bendo is one of the dimmest bulbs in the pack.

I think he needs to move up to 170lbs though. He is way too big for the LW division. I think he would fit in just fine at 170lbs.

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Agree with everything you said

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Out of curiosity what has he done to seem dumb? Ive never noticed.