Benson Henderson: Who’s Next?

By Frank Curreri

Benson Henderson can only guess who his next opponent will be, yet the WEC lightweight champ isn’t sweating the suspense. He presumes his next challenger will emerge from a formidable quartet of foes: either Shane Roller, Anthony Pettis, Kamal Shalorus or Jamie Varner will likely get the nod.

The 26-year-old Arizonan might not be so in the dark about his second title defense had the outcome of the recent Jamie Varner-Kamal Shalorus clash been more definitive. Though Henderson adjudicated Varner the winner of the riveting, back-and-forth affair – by a two rounds to one margin – he professed that there was “no disappointment on my end” that the bout was ruled a draw.

“I know that Sean Shelby (the WEC matchmaker) will give me the best guy available, the guy who has separated himself from the pack,” said the champ, who won the title from Varner in January and defended it three months later with a first-round submission over Donald Cerrone.

So let’s be honest, Ben, which of the four men would pose the toughest stylistic matchup for you?

“They all present special difficulties for myself,” he said, proceeding to break each fighter down:

“Anthony Pettis, he would be tough because he’s a little bit wild, you don’t know what he’s bringing – it could be a low kick, could be a high kick, it could be a flying triangle and he has good submissions.”

“Shane Roller would be a tough fight because his boxing has been improving. His standup and hands have been getting better. And you can watch the tape of our fight, he did hit me and hurt me in our fight, he actually dropped me before I came back and turned the tables. And his wrestling is top-notch and he’s a great grappler who has beaten Gomi and other high-level jiu-jitsu guys.

“Jamie Varner is a great wrestler with good, clean crisp boxing that you’ve got to be aware of.”

“Kamal Shalorus would be a great fight because that guy is tough as nails. Jamie Varner wound up breaking his hand on Kamal’s face, so that’s a tough cat right there. He has one-punch knockout ability and swings for the fences. If he touches you, you’re probably going to sleep. He’s perhaps one of the best wrestlers in all of MMA.”

But are Shalorus and Varner deserving of a title shot, coming off a draw?

“That’s a tough, very tricky question,” Henderson said, seeming to choose his words carefully. “It would be tough to argue that Jamie and Kamal are not deserving … but let’s see how good Anthony Pettis and Shane Roller look and what they bring to the table in their next fights.”

Incidentally, what does Henderson think of Varner’s recent comments that equated Henderson dethroning him with hitting the lottery?

“I wasn’t aware of that,” he said. “I try not to pay attention to what another fighter says. It’s completely understandable; he’s a fighter. He should think that he’s the best on the planet. It got proved otherwise when we danced together, but he’s entitled to his own opinion and I’m not going to have any ill will against him. If I got lucky, and hit the lottery…isn’t that the American Dream, to hit the lottery?”

Henderson and his fiancée are slated to get married in August in Hawaii and he doesn’t expect to return to the Octagon until September or later. In the meantime, he has been refining his techniques at the gym and is looking forward to two summer matchups in particular: BJ Penn’s rematch vs. Frankie Edgar and Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard. Henderson has sparred and trained with both Penn and Florian in the past.

“Frankie Edgar is a great fighter and he did what he had to do to win the first fight in the judges’ eyes but I’m taking BJ by (thrashing) in the rematch. I’m taking my boy Kenny – both he and BJ are my boys -- so I’m a bit biased. Kenny vs. Gray is an interesting match. I see it as a super-technical fight boxing and standup-wise. I think Kenny will have a few tricks up his sleeve that he will unveil in that fight.”