Contributor: Connor Dillon
Welcome to the seventh installment of this series leading up to Ben “Smooth” Henderson’s title defense and a rematch 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 and became the champion he is today. The seventh overall ZUFFA fight Ben Henderson had occurred at UFC 129 headlined by George St. Pierre and Jake Shields. This was actually the first time I had watched Ben Henderson fight, as I didn’t have the Versus channel to watch WEC. Bocek came into this fight as the UFC veteran here, having lost to notable name like Frankie Edgar and Jim Miller and notably beating talented grappler Dustin Hazelett by triangle choke. The event was held in Canada, and several expected this to be a simple hometown hero’s welcoming, as Bocek was Canadian and many didn’t think that Henderson (being a WEC Lightweight) would be able to beat a veteran UFC lightweight who had fought some of the best lightweights in the world. Unfortunately for Canadians and the UFC > WEC Lightweight theorists, Ben Henderson came to prove them wrong. This is the beginning of Ben Henderson’s UFC journey.
Benson Henderson vs. Mark Bocek
Round 1:
Glove tap to start it off. A couple jabs from both fighters. Leg kick from Bendo lands. Bendo throws a leg kick as Bocek comes in with a combination. Bocek gets over-underhooks on Bendo and pushes him against the cage. Bendo reverses and gets double underhooks. Bendo throwing some knees to Bocek’s legs. Bocek get an underhook and tries to fight out, but Bendo adjusts and takes back double underhooks. Bocek get another underhook and pushes off the fence. He almost gets to the center, with Bendo throwing another knee, before Bendo taking double underhooks again and pushing him back to the cage. Bocek slides his hand up and gets another underhook and reverses the position on Henderson. They’re in over-under and Bendo reverses positions once again. A few more knees from both and Yves Lavigne steps in to separate them. Bendo throwing his double jabs out. Bocek throws a leg kick the same time Bendo throws a high kick to the body, and Bocek gets hit hard and almost knocked off balance. Bocek double jabs, right punch combo, backs Bendo up. He starts it again and then shoots on Bendo. Henderson defends and then gets an underhook and reverses positions. Bendo with a knee. Henderson backs out and throws an elbow that lands. Bocek with another jab jab right combo that Bendo counters with a couple hooks. Another leg kick from Bocek that lands, but Bendo throws a couple punches that makes Bocek cover up and move back. Bendo throws a superman punch and right leg kick combo that lands. Bendo with another leg kick that just misses. Bocek tries another jab-jab-right combo that misses. Bendo comes back and throws a double jab, left, and right leg kick, which Bocek tries to snatch up, but he can’t get ahold of. Bocek with another double jab, right combo to the body. Bocek gets Bendo to back against the cage, he throws another double jab right and then shoots. He reaches down and gets a single. He wraps his arms around it and pulls Bendo away from the cage. Bocek lifts the leg up, but nothing happens and then he kicks it out from underneath Bendo. Bocek pushes Bendo against the cage and Bendo starts trying to get up. Bocek working from Bendo’s butterfly guard, throwing some short Sonnen-esque punches. Bocek starts to pass but can’t exactly get there. He clinches his hands together and picks Bendo up and tries to pass again, but Bendo’s butterfly is pretty sticky and he can’t escape. Bocek tries to throw some ground & pound but Bendo defends and throws elbows to the top of Bocek’s head. The bell rings.
Score: 10-10. I think neither fighter did enough to win that round. Sure Bocek got takedowns, but he didn’t do anything but land maybe three or four punches top, and Bendo was landing some nasty elbows from the bottom. Standing up they both countered each other well and neither really led the pace. Whenever they clinched, Bendo would reverse and take control. So I think between Bocek’s takedown, and Bendo’s control in the clinch, and the general tie standing up, this round ended up even.
Round 2:
They come out and Bocek takes the center. Bendo with a couple jabs here and there. Bendo throws a headkick that Bocek blocks. Bendo throwing out some more jabs. Bocek coming in with his jab-jab, right combo, nothing lands as Bendo hops out of the way. Bendo comes in on a combo and Bocek ducks under for a double leg. Bendo defending and they back up to the cage. Bocek switches to a single as Bendo throws some elbows to Bocek’s side. Finally Bocek picks Bendo up and throws him down. Soon as he does however, Bendo grabs onto a loose guillotine. He starts using it to stand up and Bocek puts his arm around Bendo’s head too. Bendo gets to his hands and knees and they stand up, still clinched. A strong knee from Bendo, and then he pushes Bocek back against the cage. Some nice knees and heel kicks from Bendo against Bocek. Bendo tries to trip Bocek but he can’t get him down. He brings his knee up a couple times to Bocek’s head. Yves Lavigne steps in again and they separate to the center. Bendo does a right-left-right leg kick combo. Bocek grabs the leg and tries to take Bendo down, but he gets stuffed. They start standing up again and Bendo pushes back and trips Bocek to the ground. Bocek swings his leg up and almost gets Bendo in an omoplata, but it’s defended and Bendo starts to work from his guard. Bendo is standing up throwing down onto Bocek and Bocek swings his leg behind Bendo and looks to be going for either a sweep or a calf-slicer. Bendo defends well and Bocek lets it go to instead clinch with Bendo. As he pushes Bendo against the cage, Bocek is hit with a knee. As soon as Bendo’s back hits the cage, he immediately reverse the position. They’re in over-under and Bendo is throwing some knees. Bocek circles out from the cge and brings his arm over Bendo’s head for a guillotine. Bendo is defending as Bocek pushes him back once again. Bocek switches to a figure-four chokehold (anaconda for BJJ people), and tries to roll for the choke, but is blocked by the cage. Bendo gets into side control and then starts standing up. Bocek with a knee on the way up. Bocek has switched to the guillotine and is making it really tight but Bendo is defending. Bocek tries to get guard but Bendo rolls over and ends up on top momentarily before the two start standing up. Bendo immediately starts throwing leather and backs Bocek against the cage. He grabs a nice double collar tie and throws beautiful knees to the body of Bocek. Bendo with some nice standing elbows that bust open the top of Bocek’s head. They back off the cage and Bendo lands another knee. Bocek escapes and backs up. He throws a headkick that misses. Bendo backs up some. Bocek ducks under for a takedown but Bendo lands a knee to the chest of Bocek that drops him momentarily. He pushes on and ends up getting Bendo against the cage in over-under. Bendo reverses positions immediately and separates for a moment to throw a couple bombs. Right before the bell ends Bocek throws a knee and Bendo throws another elbow to the dome of Bocek. Blood is flowing from the top of Bocek’s head as the bell ends.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. He landed the better shots standing up, defended two solid submission attempts, controlled the ground game and hit with the hard ground and pound this round. He also rocked Bocek with a knee to the chest late in the round. It’s currently 20-19 in my books.
Round 3:
Henderson waving arms around to get fans cheering. Bocek has got a nice glob of vaseline on the top of his head, and he looks pretty worn out. Uh oh, Bendo’s mouthpiece drops out momentarily, he picks it up. Yves isn’t comfortable with how far forward both fighters are at the starting line and makes them both back up. The round starts up and there’s a couple jabs from both fighters. A little ways in and Bendo throws a punch-punch leg kick combo. Bocek grabs the leg and shoots on Bendo and gets him down after a little hopping game. Bendo reaches over and gets a guillotine choke, but he lets it go. Bocek now keeping low to Bendo’s body and throwing some ground and pound, but Bendo is defending well and throwing some elbows to the top of Bocek’s head again. Right now I can’t tell if Bocek’s hair is natural or being colored by his blood. Bendo’s guard is closed, but he swings his legs up and around for an armbar, but Bocek defends by pulling his arm up. This gives Bendo enough room to roll over his shoulder onto all fours. Bocek lands ontop but slides off and Bendo stands up. He’s in Bocek’s guard throwing some punches, then lands a solid punch and slips into half guard. Bocek is reaching over with his hand under Bendo’s left leg, possibly looking for a sweep. Bendo stands up again and continues to punch hard. Bocek swings his legs around for another calf-slicer attempt. This one looks serious, as Bocek almost has Bendo’s back and the submission is pretty tight. Well, he can’t finish it and Bocek stands up and full takes Bendo’s back. He tries to hop on and put his hooks in but that doesn’t work. Bocek pushes Henderson to the cage. Henderson slips around and then reverses the position, grabbing double underhooks and clinching his hands together. He throws a couple knees to the legs and body of Bocek. Bocek circles around and then desperately tries for an inside trip, but Bendo defends well and lands a knee to the body. Bendo goes for a trip of his own and Bocek falls, but not quite to his back. Bendo moves into back control, throwing some punches. They stand up and Bendo pushes Bocek against the fence. Bendo starts working for a double leg, but Bocek is defending well, grabbing the inside of Bendo’s leg. Finally, Bendo slips Bocek’s legs out from underneath him and starts throwing some ground and pound. Bocek starts to grab and leg and Bendo drops down to defend before standing up again. Some more punches from Bendo land. Bocek moves up and grabs Bendo’s right leg for a single-leg takedown, but Bendo sprawls hard. Bocek has his hands locked but Bendo’s sprawl is great and he can’t get anything. Bendo’s sprawl slips a little and Bocek slides out from underneath, standing up and moving back. Bendo immediately comes in with a knee to the body and grabs a double collar tie, throwing some more knees. Bendo releases for a couple standing elbows and punches and Bocek circles out. Bocek takes the center again and Bendo lands a sweet knee to the body as Bocek comes in with a combo attempt. Bendo backing up some. Bocek comes in but gets hit with a combo from Bendo. Bendo backs up some more, throws some punches, but Bocek ducks underneath and grabs a double leg. He can’t quite get it against the cage, so he circles out and brings Bendo’s legs together to take him to the ground. Bendo brings his legs up to gain guard, but Bocek passes to half-guard immediately. Bocek not doing much from half-guard, but he tries to pass. Bendo shrimps out and slides on his side till he gets his legs underneath him. Bocek reaches over and tries again for a front choke of some sort. He’s not getting it and as Bocek tries to maneuver to take Bendo’s back, Henderson stands up and throws some punches. Bocek clinches with him but Bendo reverses, throwing a knee and some uppercuts that land solid. Bocek starts circling out but Bendo chases him and throws a couple more punches. The bell rings and Yves Lavigne steps between them. He actually like clinches Bendo against the cage and grabs hold of it, like Henderson was going to chase Bocek or something. Weird.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. He controlled the stand-up, the clinch, and even though he got taken down, he reversed positions and landed more damaging ground and pound. Those knees in the clinch were pretty hard, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of them.
And we go to the Judges: 30-27 for the victor, Ben “Smooth” Henderson.
Fighter Thoughts: Bendo came back…with a vengeance. I think he looked much improved in this fight, landed cleaner ground and pound, as well as some wicked knees and elbows in the clinch. Towards the end of Round 2, he backed out some and threw a couple elbows that split open Bocek’s head. Some things still persisted, like him backing up in the stand-up even though he was controlling the action. Also, Bocek kept getting takedowns on him, though it was much more difficult than previous opponents. He continued with his excellent submission defense, also he took control during most of the scrambles, getting top position and reversing Bocek. Overall, I think he improved to at least a Top-15 fighter in the Lightweight division with this win, considering his previous record.
(Keep checking in daily for The 13 Days of Bendo leading up to Henderson’s title defense against Anthony Pettis!)
-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.
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