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[Cat--Smasher]

UFC champ Benson Henderson explains recent request for superfight with St-Pierre | News

"Everyone's going out calling out fights: 'Oh, I want to fight this guy, I want to fight that guy,'" Henderson on Monday told MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMA Radio, UFC Radio - MMAjunkie Radio). "I didn't know – if that's how the UFC works, if that's the type of organization it is where you can just willy-nilly go around calling out who you want to fight next, then sure. If that's how the UFC as a business operates, you call out who you want next, and that's your next guy, I understand that. I'll do that – I'll call out who I want next.

"But if that's not how it's supposed to work, if that's just a fluke, just one or two rare cases of it happening in the UFC and you're not supposed to call out who you want next, then whatever. Cool – I won't call out who I want next and I'll face whoever they put in front of me, like always."

Henderson said his coach and management team was part of the decision to ask about the viability of a shot at St-Pierre for after the fight with Melendez, and that when it comes to doing such things, he believes it's most prudent for the smaller fighter to ask for a shot at the bigger fighter – not the other way around.

Of course, it shouldn't be forgotten that Pettis at 155 asked for the shot at Aldo at 145 – and that Pettis and Henderson have just a little bit of history behind them. Henderson lost his WEC lightweight title to Pettis at WEC 53, the promotion's final event. And if Henderson beats Melendez next month, Pettis would've been his next opponent in a rematch.

"If I'm going to call someone out, I don't want to call someone out who's smaller than me," Henderson said. "I want to call out someone who's bigger than me. So let's do the next weight class up."

It's moot, for now, of course. Henderson said he hasn't wavered his focus on what's next, which is Melendez, though. Melendez is making his UFC debut after a long run in Strikeforce, and Henderson knows what it's like to be the new kid on the bigger block coming over from the little brother promotion.

He did the same thing moving from the WEC to the UFC in 2011.

"People don't realize how tough Gil is," he said. "Gil has been a top two, three on the planet at 155 for a long time. He's a tough fighter, he comes from a great team and he's going to have a great game plan. I know how tough he is. He has big wins over some of the top-name 155-pounders who have been up there for a long time. I think as soon as people start realizing how tough he is and how good he really is, then they'll come around."

Henderson is giving Melendez the home-cage advantage fighting near his Bay Area training base in San Jose, but said he relishes the chance to fight in hostile territory. He did it in his UFC debut at UFC 129 in front of 55,000 Canadian fans who wanted to see Mark Bocek beat him.

But Melendez also gets the advantage of having cornered teammate Nate Diaz in his five-round title fight loss to Henderson in December. More advantage for Melendez? Maybe. But Henderson said it's on him and his team to be ready for that.

"If you get a chance to watch your opponent up close and personal, coaching against him, of course you're going to be able to take some things away," Henderson said. "He and his team are smart – they're going to take away a lot of good stuff from that fight. They have 25 minutes of up close, personal information to take away from it. So it's my team's job to make sure we bring more stuff to the table."

[roaddawg]

Sure is quiet up in this bitch. Fuq it I will bite I guess. Ben Hendo via GSP but even if he won that fight and got the title I say Hendricks knocks Bendo the fuck out.

For the record I don't see anyone leap frogging over Hendricks especially if he beats Condit.

[Mr. Cornute]

This interview alone show's a lot of the reason why Bendo is by far one of my favorite fighters. Bendo by far has heart and truly wants to face anyone put in front of him and leaves no excuses at all for his performance. I always enjoy seeing him fight and believe he never has a bad performance.
I think he works Gil and then between Pettis/Aldo I don't care that match-up will be fireworks. I eventually see him moving up but I think he will have a tougher time at WW, but I am more than happy to be suprised.
Bendo
Rashad
Diego
Anderson Silva

[KevoOnTheRadio]

"If I'm going to call someone out, I don't want to call someone out who's smaller than me," Henderson said. "I want to call out someone who's bigger than me. So let's do the next weight class up."

How it should be.

[lwbrewer]

Quote:
"If I'm going to call someone out, I don't want to call someone out who's smaller than me," Henderson said. "I want to call out someone who's bigger than me. So let's do the next weight class up."
Just adding a diffrent look at it Kevo. Pettis is/ trying to drop a weight class to face Aldo. So is Bendo trying to avoid a match up with him as he has a lose to him, or wanting Pettis to call him out? I like and respect Bendo just trying to keep it open minded.

[TheKidInside]

says the biggest guy fighting at LW...makes sense lol. Pettis is a small LW, so he can move down. BJ Penn was a decent LW and a tiny WW and we saw what happened to him at WW...

[Sniggles]

Anderson isn't as much like Roy Jones Jr. as he wanted to be. Maybe more talented in the ring, but doesn't have the same heart Jones had at that point in his career.

You know what would prove that Anderson is the best P4P? Beating Jon Jones rather than GSP. Or even fighting a non-plodding LHW that isn't tailor made for his brand of destruction. The conclusion of his bout with Forrest was entirely obvious.

On topic...

This does not fit in the UFC's plans. GSP would rather fight Bendo than Silva though, that's for sure.

Before Ben Henderson talks about superfights, he should be worried about cleaning out his division and defending his belt. Something both Anderson and GSP have done for years, not just a single year.

[roaddawg]

Originally Posted by KevoOnTheRadio

How it should be.

Actually that statement assumes size > skill. A primary example would be Bendo's performance over Edgar vs his performance over Nate Diaz.

The fight with Edgar was way more competitive. It's not all about size. If it was then someone like Rashad should be able to have his way with GSP in training. Reports indicated Rashad couldn't even take him down.

GSP is no cake walk not even for Silva. Obviously my argument dismisses extreme examples like Jon Jones fighting Edgar...

[KevoOnTheRadio]

I feel it's better when somebody calls out a champion in a higher weight class, as opposed to the other way around.

[initial_zen]

Originally Posted by roaddawg

It's not all about size. If it was then someone like Rashad should be able to have his way with GSP in training. Reports indicated Rashad couldn't even take him down.

Gsp said that those reports were full of it, that the reporters watched for 5 minutes and saw gsp stuff 1 or 2 shots and get a take down of his own and made it seem like he was the best wrestler to exist.