UFC on FOX: What We Learned About Benson Henderson

Going into the monumental UFC on FOX event, most fans were at least a little disappointed that they were unable to see the lightweight No. 1 contenders fight between Clay Guida and Benson Henderson on television.

Last night probably ensured that neither Henderson or Guida will be left untelevised again, as the two fighters matched their trademark intensity with excitement and put on a fight of the night worthy performance.

In the end, Henderson prevailed, out grappling Guida in all three rounds and catching “The Carpenter” once or twice on the feet en route to a unanimous-decision victory.

Henderson matched Guida’s notoriously incredible pace the entire fight and successfully stuffed nearly all of Guida’s takedown attempts, forcing the grinder out of his element.

The win showed that Henderson is quickly turning into one of the most dangerous fighters in the insanely tough 155-pound weightclass, and that he is ready to take that next step in his career and go after Frankie Edgar and the lightweight title.

After watching Henderson shut down the frustratingly difficult offense of Guida with ease, it raises the question if there is any fighter in the weight class who can get “Bendo” to the ground, and more importantly, if anyone can keep Henderson from grabbing onto them and muscling them around the cage.

Guida is one of the smaller fighters in the division, but he has never been out-muscled like he was last night, as Henderson was able to stuff his takedowns with ease and force him against the cage in order to impose his will.

It was an incredibly effective game plan against the infinitely energetic Guida, and it is the perfect skill set to make Frankie Edgar’s life a living hell.

While we may not have seen anything completely new from Henderson last night, we saw how good he could be when he was firing on all cylinders, and if he fights like that at UFC 144 in Japan, he could easily walk away with the 155-pound belt.