Contributor: Connor Dillon
Welcome to the twelfth 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. In his twelfth fight, Ben Henderson faced the Stockton Slugger, Nate Diaz. After beating Frankie Edgar twice, once by split decision in a match so closely contested, Ben Henderson needed new challenger. At the time, Jim Miller had come back from his loss to Ben Henderson and defeated the rising Melvin Guillard. That set him up with a title eliminator match against Nate Diaz, who had thunderously returned to the Lightweight division after being wrestled to the ground by Dong Hyun Kim and being suplexed by Rory MacDonald in a fight that will be used as the highlight reel of Luke’s funeral. Figuring he was too small for Welterweight, he cut weight once again and returned, first getting an arm bar over Takanori Gomi, then absolutely dominating Donald Cerrone to set a record breaking amount of thrown strikes. His final fight was the title eliminator against Jim Miller, in a fight where he became the first man to defeat Jim Miller by submission. This successful, entertaining, and exciting fight set up Nate Diaz as the next challenger to the Lightweight strap on UFC on FOX 5*.
Round 1:
They meet at the center, no touching gloves. First strike is a leg kick from Ben Henderson that lands right above Diaz’s right knee and throws his leg out of sack. Diaz throws his hands up begging Bendo to engage. Bendo throws another leg kick with the same reaction. Bendo throws a leg kick that just barely misses, Diaz instantly tries to engage with some punches but takes the opportunity to dive forward and clinch with Bendo. He’s got a back clinch and throwing some knees. Finally Bendo circles around. Knees from both fighters, but it looks like Bendo is defending Nate’s very easily. Bendo gets an underhook and reverses the position, Nate now has his back against the cage. Bendo is throwing knees to the right leg of Diaz, who looks like he’s open-palming strikes to Bendo’s head. A hook kick to the leg and a couple more knees from Bendo. Nate gets an angle and is trying to trip Bendo to the ground, but maybe he didn’t know Bendo has some of the best balance in the sport. He fails and Bendo clinches him back against the cage. Nate Diaz finally reverses the position, but after a couple of thrown strikes Bendo gets double underhooks and a Gable grip then pushes Diaz back. Bendo trips Nate to his knees and doesn’t get to throw anything. Nate stands back up, but of course Bendo is fully in control. Diaz tries once again to reverse the position, but nothing is really working. He’s dealing with Bendo’s bread and butter up against the cage. Funny like info graphic pops up saying Diaz has outlanded Bendo 28-14 so far in the fight. Nate Diaz keeps trying to get Bendo out of position so he can escape, and finally he makes enough room to step out. Diaz throwing a couple punches that miss. Bendo throws a leg kick that bends Diaz’s leg and then he shoots a single on him. Diaz somewhat sprawls, with his butt on the ground and a grip on Bendo’s legs. Bendo stands the single up, Diaz still trying to defend. Bendo gets the leg up high and the trips Diaz to the ground in a nice sweep. He’s playing Diaz’s guard standing up, looks like a triangle or an armbar might be in the work from Diaz. Bendo stands up straight though and looks to land some solid ground and pound to the body, as well as defend against up kicks. Diaz has his hands raised begging Ben Henderson to drop down into his guard. Nate looking for some up kicks.
Bendo catches one then steps over and slides down into a ha guard to defend against Diaz’s hips. As dos so, Bendo starts landing some nice ground and pound. Nate rolls overs his left shoulder, trying to get away or search for a submission. Bendo eases his leg out and take back control, throwing some solid punches. Diaz stands up, but Bendo still has a back clinch and drives him against the cage. Bendo landing some nice knees to Diaz’s leg. Diaz twists around and is trying to create space so he can separate, but Bendo wisely brings him closer. Diaz lands a nice knee. Diaz is working, he gets an angle and he starts to circle out but Bendo is still holding on and finally the two separate, a couple punches from both guys. Bendo circles out to the center. He throws a leg kick that hits Diaz and makes him fall backwards onto the ground. Bendo immediately drops, but Nate gets control of his leg like he’s gonna shoot on him. Bendo with some nice, nice punches. Nate works his way to standing and then separates as Bendo throws a head kick that barely misses. Nate dropping his hands. Bendo with another leg kick that lands. Nate throwing a couple punches that he over extends on and lets Bendo duck away from. Nate steps in on a punch and the two wind up clinching. Bendo gets some space but Nate lands a couple punches. Bendo’s hair looking a little wild, but I guess it helps him to dodge punches from Nate, so whatever. They’re in the center and Nate gets clobbered with a jab-hook combo. Bendo clinches with him and throws a knee. Nate backs Bendo to the cage, throwing a couple punches to the body in the process. Nate tries for a single leg, but lets it go. He’s leaning against Bendo keeping him against the cage, but Bendo gets an underhook and reverses the position. Nate trying to escape but Bendo gets double underhooks. The two stare down at each other after the bell rings and Herb Dean has to separate them.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. Those leg kicks are doing some hard damage, he took Nate down twice, once with a leg kick and once with a single leg sweep, and overall kept control for the most of the round. He also landed the better shots, with the leg kicks, the knees, and a few punches at range doing wonders.
Round 2:
The two come out to the center again. Bendo ducks low and swings his head a little bit. Diaz pawing out his jab, getting Bendo to back up. Bendo with a leg kick that almost drops Nate, and then he almost lands a nice left hook. Now Bendo throws his double pump out. He tries to close the distance with an overhook, but it misses. They do clinch and Bendo drives Nate back towards the cage. Bendo was double underhooks and then trips Nate to the ground. He’s throwing nice, solid shots to Diaz’a head. Diaz is getting up slowly, Bendo heavy on him. As they stand Bendo throws a head kick that Nate actually leans into and gets hit with (it honestly looks like he was out on his feet for a second). Nate tries to step away but Bendo clinches him against the cage with double underhooks. Bendo throwing some nice knees. Diaz trying some slaps to Bendo’s head. He reaches around Bendo’s head and possibly looks for a guillotine but doesn’t go with anything and lets it be. Bendo with heavy pressure. Diaz kneeing Bendo some more. as well as some slaps, but Bendo is getting in harder knees. Bendo slips into double underhooks. Nate tries to create distance but Bendo closes it with a hard elbow and they stay clinching. Bendo throwing a hook kick to Nate’s left leg. Nate again trying to create distance, but it’s not working and Bendo stays tight. Nate throws a knee and then gets space to work with but Bendo stays tight and moves with him around the cage. Nate finally getting space and Bendo elbows him again but Nate runs out of the clinch and gets to the center. Bendo ducking down like he’ll shoot. He does it again. He’s getting Nate to react to him. Nate gets a solid left in a minor exchange but Bendo eats it like wheaties. Easily. Nate jabbing out and getting a little close, Bendo ducks down and makes Nate back up. Nate tries to step in with some punches but Bendo circles out.
They meet in the center and Bendo lands a nice leg kick. Bendo steps in with a punch and tries to get a double collar tie but Nate defends and the two part. Nate starts an exchange, Bendo responds and then they clinch again. Nate getting distance and tries to swing Bendo around. The two split and Nate throws a head kick that misses. Nate circling on the outside. Bendo throws a jab to the leg that Nate tries to counter. He throws it two, three times. He gets Nate to duck down like he’ll defend. Bendo throws a jab to the leg and follows it up with an overhand left that connects clean to the temple and makes Nate run backward with Bendo on his heels. It looks like Nate has position for a heel hook, but Bendo slides his leg out while maintaining a fast pace with throwing ground and pound. Bendo trying to slip into mount but Nate defends. Bendo with some more punches. He gets Nate to roll over his shoulder again and Bendo has back control once more. Nate stands up but Bendo is sticking to him. Nate trying to circle but Bendo stays tight. Bendo gets in some shoulder shots to Nate’s face. Nate steps over and tries to trip Bendo to the ground, but Bendo has a solid base and Nate can’t get it. He steps away though and for a moment there’s some space between the two. Bendo steps in with a punch and then finishes closing the distance with an elbow before clinching with Nate again. Nate tries to trip Bendo to the ground again and he’s successful! For a moment. Bendo immediately latches onto a leg and then uses that space as well as Nate’s slipping sprawl to stand up. Bendo throws a head kick that misses. Nate circling on the outside. Bendo throws another jab to the leg. Bendo tries throwing a snap kick to Nate’s torso. Bendo with another leg kick that Nate has to wobble on before standing back in his stance. Nate jawing at Bendo. Nate with a nice combo that Bendo backs away from. They have a nice exchange and then the bell rings and Herb steps between them. Nate jaws at Bendo some more before going to his corner.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. Pretty solid from start to finish. He kept control in the clinch, standing, and on the ground. The one time he was taken down, he was immediately up in under 10 seconds without taking any damage. He’s putting on a “How to beat down a Diaz” clinic right now. (20-18 Bendo on my scorecards).
Round 3:
The area around Diaz’s right eye looks pretty damn red. The two meet in the center. Bendo with a leg kick that makes Nate go to one leg momentarily. Bendo with some punches on the follow up there that don’t entirely land. Nate tries to clinch but Bendo pushes himself away. Nice little info graphic shows Bendo out landing Nate on significant strikes 60-13. Nate trying to catch Bendo but can’t land anything. Bendo tries a side kick to the thigh of Nate Diaz. Diaz moves forward with his looping Stockton Slaps, trying to hit Bendo but he comes up short in everything. Nate actually lands a solitary jab on Bendo. Nate chasing Bendo with punches again, but he can’t catch him at all. Bendo tries a snap kick to the midsection again, but Diaz defends and closes the distance with punches, which leads to a nice exchange that neither fighter entirely owns. Nate throwing some punches out. He’s in an almost side on stance, why isn’t Joe Rogan talking about his awesome karate technique? Nate comes in with punches and Bendo ducks under and gets a double leg takedown on him. Bendo working to pass Diaz’s guard, with some nice ground and pound intermixed. Nate going for a heel hook, he’s in control of Bendo’s right leg. Nate trying to roll over into a kneebar of some sorts, but Bendo drops his hips down and keeps control of him. Nasty ground and pound. Nate getting to his feet through and Bendo lands a nice knee. They get a little space, and then Bendo ducks under for a takedown and Nate sprawls on him. Bendo eventually slips free and they both stand up. Bendo with a nice leg kick. Nate jabs out and Bendo shoots a single leg takedown on him. Nate immediately goes to the ground and Bendo proceeds to throw ground and pound while he’s standing up. Nate reaches up and gets a loose closed guard on Bendo. Bendo takes a knee and is trying to free one hand. Now he just sits down on his knees. Bendo getting some solid punches and elbows in. Nate trying to kick Bendo off him. Bendo standing up in Diaz’s open guard, throwing some nice shots. Diaz throwing his hands up like he just don’t care. Bendo trying to step around Diaz’s guard, but Diaz gets his legs back into position. Nate throwing some kicks to Bendo’s legs. Bendo has control of Nate’s right leg. Bendo tries to slam down a punch. Finally Bendo steps over Nate’s defense and is in a half guard throwing some elbows to Nate’s face. Nate trying to keep it close, but Bendo is still landing. Nate trying to sweep Bendo, and he does!
Momentarily. He’s got control of Bendo’s right leg and needs to get into a better position than turtle to roll up a submission. Bendo moves and Nate rolls with him. It looks like Nate is gonna lock up a kneebar then he switches to an ankle lock. Bendo is going for his own submission, but neither fighter is really close to getting one. Nate has Bendo’s left leg in a figure four. Bendo swings around with a backfist that lands and frees him up. Bendo has back control and then puts in one of his hooks. Nate rolls some more and Bendo winds up in his guard. Nate once again grabs ahold of a leg for a submission, but can’t quite get the angle he needs. Bendo has got his hand on one of Nate’s feet. Nate keeps trying to use the leg to go for a submission. Bendo gets into the splits. Nate is sitting up throwing punches at him. Nate flips off Bendo a couple times then sits back for a submission again. Bendo defending. Nate tries to take back control, letting the submission go, but that gives Bendo time to stand up. Nate does as well after a moment. Nate throws some punches to counter a leg jab, then throws his hands up once more. Bendo steps in with an overhook and knocks Diaz to the ground, he follows it up with heavy ground and pound, with Herb Dean looking in from pretty close. Diaz gathers his wits as well as his guard. Bendo steps around again into half-guard. He throws some more ground and pound. Diaz eventually wraps his legs up around Bendo’s leg and goes for a submission and potentially a sweep. He lets go of it and Bendo stands up, Diaz trying to grab a leg. Bendo steps back into Diaz’s open guard, heavy on his hips, throwing some great punches. Bendo stands up again and Nate looks for an up kick. Bendo with an axe kick to the body. Nate rolls to his knees for a takedown, but Bendo defends. The bell rings and the two separate.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. That was a damn fun round. It had everything. Improbable submissions, Diaz antics, and a defensive wizard. Bendo controlled it well, never really was in any danger with the submissions because Nate couldn’t get a good angle or hold on either the knee, heel, or ankle. Bendo knocked him down pretty hard with that hook and landed the better punches both standing up and in the dominate offensive ground positions. (30-27 Bendo on my scorecards).
Round 4:
Bendo’s infamous double pump goes out. Diaz tries to step in punches and Stockton slaps but can’t get the right distance. Diaz tosses some punches out followed by a head kick that misses. Bendo with a solid leg kick that throws Diaz off-balance. They clinch and Diaz tries to trip Bendo to the ground. Bendo gets double underhooks and then pushes Diaz against the fence. He trips Diaz to the ground and takes mount momentarily before slipping into his guard. Diaz rolls over his shoulder and gets on all fours, Bendo landing ground and pound. Finally he stands up and tries to circle away but Bendo stays tight and trips Diaz down once again. Bendo is in side control but Diaz rolls over onto all fours again as he gets hit over and over again. Diaz trying to get Bendo to lose position, but his movements put Bendo squarely in back control. Diaz trying to put Bendo off-balance with a roll over his left shoulder, but Bendo stays strong in his base and Diaz doesn’t get far. Finally Diaz gets enough strength to stand up. They’re clinching against the cage, but Diaz has a kimura attempt and he goes for a trip with it that gets Bendo down but Nate isn’t in a strong position either. Nate rolls over his shoulder again and gets punched a few times as he stands up from turtle. Bendo tries to trip Nate but can’t get enough force in for it to work. He clinches back up with Diaz in double underhooks. Walks him back and then trips him to the ground again. Nate trying to sweep Bendo again, but he can’t and he winds up on his back with Bendo standing up in an open half-guard. Bendo landing some nice punches. He’s keeping his hips heavy, trying to pass Diaz’s guard. He winds up sitting down in half-guard, landing some sweet elbows as Diaz tries to shrimp out and regain full guard. Nate grabs a figure four hold on Bendo’s left arm, but Bendo isn’t giving him the proper angles for it.
Bendo finally steps over and throws some punches, forcing Nate to release the hold and roll first to a turtled position, then to his back. The whole time Bendo is just dominating him. Bendo stands up and steps over into half-guard, landing an elbow to the side of Diaz’s head. Diaz trying to roll up Bendo’s leg but Bendo defends. Diaz winds up getting back his open guard with Bendo standing up. They’re just playing the guard game, Diaz waving for Bendo to come into his guard. Bendo wings a huge punch that barely misses Diaz’s head. Bendo has control of Diaz’s left ankle, and throws a couple punches to his calf. Diaz trying to push Bendo back with up kicks. Bendo jumps up and acts like he’ll slam a punch down. Then he fakes an axe kick. Bendo lands a leg kick. Diaz sits up and tries to kick into Bendo’s leg. Diaz stands up. Bendo lands a leg kick. Diaz walking down Bendo. The bell rings and Diaz stands there for a moment mean-mugging Bendo.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. You could potentially give a 10-8 for the utter domination in every facet of the fight, but I feel Bendo wasn’t landing enough damaging strikes for it to be considered a 10-8. Yeah, not much else to say besides Bendo just utterly dominated Diaz.
Round 5:
Nate Diaz getting checked up on by the doctors for his eye. He’s cleared. The bell rings and they come to the center. Bendo whiffs on a leg kick. Diaz trying to walk down Bendo. Bendo with a front kick that misses. Bendo gets down low and the shoots forward….to land a leg jab. Bendo comes in with an overhook that misses, but the two clinch and Bendo drives Diaz to the fence. Bendo’s got an underhook on the left side. Diaz trying to make some room to escape. Nate lands a couple slaps and a knee to Bendo. Nate looking for another leg sweep, but Bendo is walking with him and defending everything. Bendo keeping the pressure. He pulls back and throws an elbow that Nate ducks under and tries to circle out from, but Bendo latches onto a clinch and pins Nate back against the fence. This is Ben Askren level of blanketing. Nate spins around and gives Bendo back control. Bendo reaches down and picks Diaz up then slams him down. He nearly gets both hooks in and a rear-naked choke, but Nate spins around and gets Bendo in his open guard. Nate goes for another submission, but Bendo steps out and spins back around to the guard to throw some more ground and pound. His main attacks here are winging hooks, elbows, and punches to the body. Bendo steps back and spins Diaz’s legs around and step into side control. Diaz rolls to all fours and Bendo stays in control. Diaz stands up but Bendo maintains control. Another info-graphic pops up showing Bendo having a 120-17 advantage in the significant strikes landed against Diaz.
Nate throwing some punches and slaps, but Bendo is slamming knees and punches into Nate. Bendo steps around and spins to Diaz’s back. It looks like Nate might be working for a figure four hold but Bendo is still in control for now. Diaz is now putting Bendo’s back against the cage. but Bendo drags him to the floor. Bendo has his arm between his legs, keeping Diaz from doing anything with it. Bendo is landing punches to Nate’s ribs. Bendo steps around to back control and Nate releases the figure four hold. Nate stands up but Bendo is still in back control. Bendo is landing some knees. Diaz throwing some hammer fists to Bendo’s midsection. Diaz finally trips Bendo to the ground and almost winds up in side control, but Bendo moves too quickly for a takedown and Nate goes to his back. Bendo is standing up in the guard throwing punches. Diaz flips him off and throws his hands out. Diaz rolls over his should to all fours and Bendo takes back control. Nate stands up. He gets space and starts moving backwards and Bendo throws a head kick that lands clean before following and clinching up once more with Nate. Bendo is getting hit with a couple slaps. He throws a punch to Nate’s head. Diaz trying to walk and make room. Diaz gets a double collar tie and Bendo winds up throwing bombs to Nate’s midsection then to his head. Nate spins out and throws a couple punches but misses them both. They both circle out and back to the center. Nate is egging Bendo to throw some punches at his face. Nate trying to chase Bendo down with punches, but he isn’t landing anything. Nate tries a head kick that misses terribly. The bell rings and the two nod at each other and bump hands before going to their corners.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. What else is there to say besides Bendo just completely controlled almost every moment of that round. He landed the harder shots, he landed more shots, he controlled the clinching and the grappling. For me it’s a clear 50-45 fight.
The Judges Score It: 50-43, 50-45, and 50-45 for the winner by unanimous decision and still the Lightweight Champion of the World, Ben “Smooth” Henderson.
Fighter Thoughts: Bendo looked absolutely dominating in there against Nate. The last two rounds were a couple knockdowns from being 10-8’s. Those leg kicks finally paid off against someone not name Frankie Edgar. I think this match-up was one that heavily favored Bendo’s style and skill set. I think the one place that Nate could’ve done very well was entirely negated by Bendo’s dexterity and strong hip control, as Nate never really was able to get into a position for a submission to actually work. I think this fight showed Bendo sticking to a game plan and less of him throwing himself in the fire as he had before, as even the patented Diaz antics didn’t make him try anything. I think this was one of Bendo’s best performances of his entire career.
*This was one of the best cards of 2012, with Rory MacDonald dominating BJ Penn, Dennis Siver’s drop to Featherweight, Matt Brown and Yves Edwards demolishing Mike Swick and Jeremy Stephens respectively, and “Shogun” Rua fighting Alexander Gustafsson. If you get a chance to watch it, do. The card was fun from top to bottom.
(Keep checking back daily for more of The 13 Days of Bendo leading up to his rematch with Anthony Pettis!)
-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.
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