Benson Henderson was a good Korean American kid from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He’s never had a sip of alcohol or a puff of a cigarette (or anything for that matter) in his life. Henderson joined the wrestling team while in college and has grown into a current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and a mixed martial artist to keep an eye on. In 2010, Henderson claimed his current title of “former WEC Lightweight Champion” in the thrid round when he caught Jamie Varner with a Guillotine choke at WEC 46.
In late 2010 when World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Henderson became one of the WEC fighters that got transferred to the UFC. Making his UFC debut at UFC 29, he defeated Mark Bocek via unanimous decision. Those winning unanimous decisions continued to place him on the right track to being the #1 contender for UFC Lightweight Title after defeating Jim Miller at UFC on Versus and Clay Guida at UFC on Fox.
Most recently, he faced Frankie Edgar in last week’s UFC 144 in a back and forth battle to become UFC Lightweight Champion. Both participants earned Fight of the Night honors for their performance, with Henderson scoring 100 to 81 in the striking game.
I must admit, my favorite part of the night had nothing to do with his fighting. It was after winning the fight. When he walked right passed security and UFC staff who were directing him towards the locker room. Where the heck was he going? Well, over to the one lady in his life that supported him throughout his career – his mama! Here’s a picture of the sweet moment to make your testosterone pumping heart melt – fellas:
