13 Days of Bendo: Ben Henderson vs Shane Roller

Contributor: Connor Dillon

Welcome to the second installment of this series leading up to Ben “Smooth” Henderson’s title defense against Anthony Pettis at UFC 164. As a Champion for the UFC, he has been one of the most divisive amongst fans; according to many MMA fans and journalists, Ben Henderson is recorded as 1-3 in his last four championship defenses. His razor close decision wins as champion have made many fans dislike him for lack of conclusive endings, as well as beating by dubious decisions fan favorite Frankie Edgar.

My quest for understanding leads me to watch his previous ZUFFA fights, for both the WEC and the UFC, to see where he changed, what trends I see, and possibly determine how Ben Henderson became the champion he is today. His second fight under the ZUFFA umbrella occurred at WEC 40 – Torres vs Mizugaki. Ben’s opponent for that night was Shane Roller, an NCAA D-1 All American wrestler. The question for Henderson would be whether or not he would be beaten by the better wrestler (on paper). What follows is a relatively short, but very eventful fight that saw Ben Henderson win by TKO in Round 1 after being rocked and nearly submitted by Shane Roller.

Ben Henderson vs Shane Roller

Round 1:

Touch gloves to start us up. Bendo double pumps his jab. Shane looks good with his chin down and hands up. Bendo throws a jab-left straight combo. He tries a front kick. Shane circles out and then throws a left hook, and a right hook while Bendo is changing his angle. The right catches Bendo and knocks him down, but he pushes himself back to the cage to try and get up. Roller immediately grabs a guillotine choke but Bendo has his back to the cage and it’s difficult for him to get the right angle to properly choke Bendo. He lets it go and then tries some GNP.  Bendo moves pulls his legs under himself and then shoots for a single. Roller defends but Bendo presses and then they wind up clinching against the cage in over/under position, with Roller’s back to the cage. Minor clinch striking exchanges between the two, knees and body punches. Bendo trips Shane Roller to the ground but Roller sweeps him and pushes Bendo off, and stands up, but Bendo pushes forward. He grabs the Muay Thai clinch but Shane is still on his knees and he decides to throw punches. Shane defends three punches as he stands up, a right-left-right but Bendo sneaks in a left hook that slips through Shane’s arms as he was trying to push Bendo back. Shane Roller drops like a sack of potatoes, is clearly hurt and Bendo punches the sides of his head while Roller tries to grab a double leg. Unfortunately, Roller couldn’t connect his hands in time and the ref calls the fight. Ben Henderson wins via TKO Round 1 at 1:41.

Fighter Thoughts: Bendo looked fine after he was dropped. Roller caught him as he was transitioning to another position and his feet weren’t place properly for the strike. I don’t think he was actually as hurt as the announcers (cough Frank Mir cough) thought he was though, but that guillotine attempt was very solid. The best thing I saw from Bendo this fight was his killer instinct, that aggression that is a double edged sword in fights. The worst thing was he didn’t manage the distance between himself and Roller well which allowed Roller to catch him and knock him down and get a near-finish.

(Keep checking back daily for the next of the 13 Days of Benson Henderson!)

-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.