Contributor: Ben Kohn
UFC on Fox 10, this coming Saturday night, features the former UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson against the former Strikeforce Lightweight champion Josh Thomson in a fight that I personally cannot wait for. I’m a big Benson fan and a big fan of Josh as well (in the cage at least). Both have turned in some truly excellent fights in the past few years. Benson’s wins over Edgar x2, Melendez, and the beatdown of Nate Diaz were really great fights regardless of who you scored them for. Meanwhile, Thomson has had only two fights in nearly two years but he made a big impression in both of them. Despite losing the decision to Melendez, Thomson proved how good he is by taking him to a split decision that many felt he won. His return to the UFC afterwards…well let’s just says he made a big splash by being the first to finish Nate Diaz with strikes with a TKO in the second round. Thomson was rewarded with a title shot against Anthony Pettis but the bout was cancelled after Pettis got injured. Now, we get a fight that promises to be an extremely interesting clash of styles. Both of them are very good wrestlers, very good submission grapplers, and very good strikers.
Yet as similar as they are, each have very distinct differences in their styles. Benson’s strengths lie in his kicking skills on the feet much more than his hands but he has the ability to hurt his opponents with his hands. Meanwhile, Josh is more of a wrestleboxer archetype but his abilities in the kicking game should not be understated. In fact, his TKO over Diaz was through his kicks throughout the fight to the legs and head. Henderson and Thomson are both good wrestlers yet both tend to use them in different settings. While Benson prefers to use the clinch against the cage, Josh likes to hit slick trips in the center of the cage. Finally, both have the ability to snatch up submissions in the grappling aspect. Both seem to have a more ground and pound/wrestling oriented style as opposed to searching for submissions. Both men are very complete fighters and the best thing is, they have high paced styles of fighting that will lead to a really high level mixed martial arts fight that should have most fans very intrigued by the thought of these two top guys going at it. Enough of the introductions though, let’s get deeper into the technical aspects of these two top Lightweights.
Striking: To break down Benson’s striking is an enigma. He is a bit puzzling in the aspect that he at times will mix up his strikes and smoothly blends his kicking and boxing together and others when he seems to use either one or the other. If I had to choose the techniques he seems most comfortable with in each department, it would be his leg kick to the calf area of his opponent and his straight left. It’s hard not to think of his leg kick as one of his main weapons as he has floored multiple opponents with it such as Frankie Edgar and Gilbert Melendez. Another puzzling bit about his striking is that he goes from calm and relaxed to wild brawling in an instant. In his fight with Gilbert, he was circling and picking his shots and then in the third round just started trading with him at various points in the round. Oh, I should point out it was not technical in the slightest. His chin stays up in the air and he wings right and left hooks. Oddly enough though, he won the exchanges like that for the most part because he is creative with his brawling (despite the lack of technique being used) and will mix in elbows 
and knees to the body while in the phone booth range. See what I mean by enigmatic? I’m not even sure if I need to point out just how weird his leg jab is (;)). Benson tends to struggle though with certain aspects of the standup game that has gotten him in trouble before. Against Melendez, he let Gil kick his inside leg numerous times without even attempting to check them, he seems to have issues with his distance gauging on his strikes. He will throw double jabs or kicks that have no chance of landing because of the huge amount of distance between him and his opponent. He also will throw kicks that get caught all the time. Edgar and Melendez both caught a bunch of his kicks and either took Benson down or pushed him back against the cage because of it. In fact, most kicks Benson throws above the calf region seem to be caught by his opponents. In addition to that, Benson has a tendency to back himself against the cage and get hit a lot there because he can either go left or right, and will usually go left. His predictability in his movements has gotten him lit up here and there and hopefully it’s something he worked on. Overall, Benson’s striking game seems to be hinged upon a few things. His athletic ability, powerful kicks, and basic boxing mixed with the chin and willingness to brawl when necessary. He has a decent double jab (when in range) and good straight left to keep his opponents honest on the feet, very powerful kicks that will do serious damage if they land, and can take as much as he can dish to boot. Defensively, Benson seems to struggle with guys who can outbox him (Melendez and Edgar) or are strikers like Pettis (than again, who doesn’t struggle with Pettis on the feet). While not the second coming, his striking is definitely a dangerous tool in his arsenal.
Josh’s style is much more, forgive me for this, smooth (sorry I had to) than Benson’s. I say this because he mixes up his attacks more frequently than Benson, seamlessly connecting his boxing and kicking game. He can also use each one as individual weapons as well, similar to Bendo, but he can use them both together which is something Benson has thus far struggled with. An illustration of both would be his last two fights against Melendez and Diaz. Against Gilbert, he was mixing up his striking as Melendez is a much more complete fighter than Diaz and Thomson used his kicks and punches together during the fight with front kicks and round house kicks at range or to finish combinations and tight punches on the inside. What truly separates Thomson’s abilities on the feet from Benson’s is that his defensive striking is much better than Benson’s. While Benson under fire will immediately start winging punches and brawling, Thomson will usually cover up well and roll with the punches, generally avoiding most. It was on full display in his fight with Gilbert (for an example of this, check out round 2 of his fight at 3:40 left in the round). Specific techniques he will use at range are rear leg front kicks to the body, usually flicked out without landing though, and his leg kicks. One of the reasons his leg kicking is so effective is his constant stance switching. It allows him to set up kicks from both sides of his body, rear and front, without telegraphing them and the transition into the kick is natural as well. His boxing is also very crisp and he has very good straight punches (jabs and straights) and his hooks are tight and rarely thrown wildly. His constant lateral movement is a big part of his game as well and that’s where we get down to how their styles will clash.
As we have already seen in previous fights, Frankie Edgar uses a lot of lateral movement. Benson’s powerful kicks to the calf 
knocked him off of his feet numerous times and are a great weapon against lateral movement. Despite the fact that Thomson is the more polished fighter overall on the feet, his constant stance switching and lateral movement could get him into serious trouble with Benson. On the flip side, Thomson is much better in the pocket than Benson and while Benson has displayed great chin/recovery skills, he has been rocked here and there and dropped. Aside from that, Benson’s susceptibility to getting drawn into firefights could end up with him on his back but I’ll get to that soon. Bottom line is that it matters how their styles mash up, not whose better on paper. Although Benson does have a weapon to counteract Thomson’s movement oriented style, Thomson’s more diverse style gives him the edge in my eyes.
Edge in striking goes to Josh Thomson.
Clinch: When it comes to the clinch, Benson really is just a bitch to have to deal with. He’s very strong and has very annoying tactics that wear down his opponents and in the clinch against the cage is where he is most effective with his takedowns. But for now let’s focus on the striking and standup aspect of the clinch. Benson is very good at grinding away in the clinch, landing short kicks to the ankle/calf of his opponents as well as knees to the thighs and body. For the most part, that is what makes up his attacks there but he also will throw hard punches to the body and head when he feels there is an opening. The particular technique I enjoy is his kick to the calf and ankle area. I feel that he can apply this way better if he would keep concentrating on that area of his opponents both at range and in the clinch. He really could damage that area badly and slow his opponents down drastically with it. Anyway, Benson’s combination of his strength and short strikes in the clinch make him very difficult to deal with but Thomson is no slouch there either.
While not as strong, Josh has a bit more of a frenetic pace when it comes to the clinch. The difference between him and Benson is that Josh is much more defensive in the clinch than Benson and prefers free range striking. That’s why when he was being clinched up by Gilbert for instance, he worked hard to pummel and free himself from the clinch. There isn’t much that is special about his clinch honestly other than the usual punches and knees you will see in most fighters’ arsenals. That being said, he isn’t someone to sleep on in that area but in the clinch, I definitely think Benson has the advantage.
Edge in Clinch goes to Benson Henderson
Wrestling/Takedowns: Alright here’s where I get to gush about those leg trips of Thomson which I love. The way he grabs those up in transition in the middle of the cage is just beautiful. Thomson’s takedowns are generally initiated in the middle of the cage either by those trips or by shot takedowns and while not the best wrestler by any means, he does have a strong 
takedown game overall. In addition to that, he has excellent defense as well defending most attempts thrown at him by some very good wrestlers. But those trip takedowns are what I think are his best attacks as he hits them when you least expect it and although he generally won’t land on top and do damage, they look great and score points for him. When it comes to wrestling, he is definitely someone I would consider a very serious threat.
Benson is someone who confuses me. He would rather grind away in the clinch than actually seriously try and get the takedown (at least that is how it seems to me). When shooting in, he is more than content to stay low with his head inside and wear down his opponents. When he does go for the takedown, it’s generally with a body lock trip or drag down against the cage. While his shot is decent, it’s definitely not his strong suit. As a matter of fact, shooting in the center of the cage is not his strong suit by any means. Defense is something he is very good at but he can be taken down off his kicks and when he overextends on the feet with his punches. Frankie Edgar had lots of success in taking him down but Edgar is one of the best wrestlers at the lighter weights period. While his defense is very solid, it can be broken through and I’m interested to see how Benson will react to the unusual movement of Thomson and his trip takedowns. Overall, Thomson definitely has the better takedown game in my eyes and their defenses seem to be about even I’d say.
Edge in Wrestling/Takedowns goes to Thomson
Grappling: We finally get down to the last of the technical aspects of the fight game, the grappling. This includes both ground and pound and submissions so as to encompass wrestling oriented and submission oriented styles. Fortunately for us, both of these fighters tend to use wrestling oriented ground and pound styles of grappling. Benson has recently received his blackbelt from John Crouch and is a very good pure submission grappler (don’t let his armbar loss to Pettis fool you, he completely outgrappled Nate Diaz, one of the slickest grapplers at Lightweight) and has even competed and medaled at the 
IBJJF world championship in 2011 at brown belt. Combined with his strength and wrestling background, Benson is a best on top with punishing ground and pound and a steady and measured but constant pace when on top. Benson is definitely a position before everything kind of guy though and will stop attacking if he feels he is not safe in the position he is in. Defensively, he is basically un-chokeable and we have seen him survive choke attempts that are inconceivable to us mere mortals. Aside from that, he obviously has solid all-around defense and despite the armbar Pettis caught him with (stay tuned for a technical breakdown of the armbar from guard in MMAJ), has displayed patience and technique when working to get out of submissions and an ability to stay calm under pressure as well. When on top, Benson is content to work from the guard or standing up and throw punches toward his opponents head usually and his best display of ground and pound is definitely his fight with Diaz where he absolutely punished and demolished Diaz from his guard. Benson’s abilities on the ground are in my opinion his best offensive weapon and he is not someone you want on top by any means.
Josh’s game on top is more frenetic and less position oriented. He prefers to keep moving and tries to land ground and pound in transition and will prefer to get to a better position rather than stating in guard. While he is not as powerful as Benson’s, he still packs quite a bit of power in his punches, and seems fond of getting his opponents to turtle up so he can slam his fists to the side of their heads. Against Diaz, he was constantly attacking despite the position changes which are very different from Benson’s game of trying to control the position in order to set up his strikes. Thomson much rather would allow the transition attempts to land punches to the dome while they are happening which disrupts his opponents and causes them to defend. While they defend, Josh can improve his position which is what he is looking for in the first place. Defensively, Josh is as good as it gets as he has never been submitted before. While definitely no slouch in offensive submissions, he is not much of a threat to Benson in terms of pure grappling. While he might snatch one up if he rocks him, it’s unlikely he will be able to catch Benson without that. Defensively as mentioned, Josh’s game is centered on using his grappling to defend submissions and either get back to his feet when on bottom, or continue to ground and pound when on top. A very simple ground game overall to be honest, but very effective. While Josh is definitely a very effective grappler, Benson is definitely going to have an advantage on the ground. His smooth grappling (sorry again), strength, and ground and pound ability just are better in my opinion.
Edge in Grappling goes to Benson Henderson
In other areas of fighting, these two are pretty even. Chin, cardio, heart etc. are all nonfactors in my opinion. One thing Josh does have over Benson is fight IQ. I feel that Benson will sometimes put himself in positions he shouldn’t and allows fights to be closer than they are should be when he has technical superiority. He will allow himself to deviate from his gameplan and gives rounds away. For this reason, I feel Josh has a huge edge over Benson as we have seen he can follow gameplans to a tee for an entire fight. I see this fight being a close back and forth battle with each man winning rounds but in the end only one can win this fight. Josh has the ability to give Benson some trouble on the feet and is more than capable of surviving on the ground with Benson. I think this will be close but the winner will be Josh Thomson. That’s right, I am picking the underdog.
Josh Thomson by Unanimous Decision 48-47 x3.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten.
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