Contributor: Connor Dillon
Welcome to the fourth 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 fourth ZUFFA fight occurred at WEC 46 against Jamie Varner. The interim champion after defeating Donald Cerrone at WEC 43 in a Fight of the Year worthy candidate, Ben Henderson was known for exciting fights, strong wrestling with a dangerous top game, as well as being virtually unsubmittable. Jamie Varner on the other hand was riding high after two finishes in championship fights before running into Donald Cerrone in a good fun scrap until an illegal knee caught him and made him unable to continue. He won via technical decision and caused many fans to disapprove of him. The WEC then tried to make a rematch happen, but because he couldn’t be medically cleared, they set up an interim title fight between Cerrone and Bendo, as chronicled in the previous article. With his victory in that fight, Bendo was launched into a fight with Varner, a man looking for redemption with the fans.
Benson Henderson vs. Jamie Varner
Round 1:
Bendo in blue, Varner in red. Touch gloves to start out. Varner faking some jabs out to time and get distance. Good solid feeling out time. Bendo throws a leg kick that Varner counters with a left-right combo. Bendo throws a headkick that misses. Varner throws a right straight, left hook combo that leads to a body lock clinch against the cage. Varner picks up Bendo and slams him to the ground. Bendo tries to grab a leg for a submission but Varner defends and throws some ground and pound. Eventually Bendo rolls over and grabs a leg to shoot a takedown on but Varner defends and grabs onto a front headlock on Bendo’s neck. Varner twists Bendo around and gets his back against the cage, and throws some knees to Bendo’s midsection. He stands up and really goes for the choke but doesn’t have it and throws a knee right to Bendo’s head. They go back to the knees, Varner still latched onto Bendo’s neck. He again throws more knees to Bendo’s body and legs. Referee pauses action and stands them up. Bendo throws a leg kick and has his hands extended as Jamie Varner comes in, possibly poking him in the eye. Herb Dean doesn’t call it even as Varner jogs back to a corner. Bendo chases him down and clinches against the cage with him. Bendo goes for a throw but he doesn’t have it and Varner slips around to take Bendo’s back. They’re on thr ground against the clinch and Varner throws more knees to Bendo’s body. Henderson slowly stands up and goes into over/under hooks with Vaner. He pushes him against the clinch and throws some knees at Varner. Right before the bell rings, Bendo exits the clinch and throws a beautiful elbow to Varner’s temple. Round ends and Varner smiles and gives a quick hug to Bendo.
Score: 10-9 Varner. He controlled Bendo with takedowns and a slam, more ground and pound, and a serious submission attempt. Bendo was playing second fiddle to Varner’s this round, and didn’t start as fast as he has before.
Round 2:
Glove touch at the beginning. Bendo throws a leg kick that lands. Varner fakes some more jabs. Varner tries a flying knee that misses and Bendo clinches and gets Varner against the cage. On the way out of the clinch Bendo throws a knee that hits Varner but not with much power. As Varner approaches Bendo throws a headkick that Varner hops out of range from. Varner throws a leg kick, then another. Varner throws some more jab fakes, as does Bendo. They both try leg kicks, but Varner’s actually causes Bendo to fall to the ground as he was off-balance. He lets Bendo get up. Bendo gets hit with another leg kick then tries a headkck that misses. Varner tries another right-left hook-right combo that back Bendo against the cage but he circles out. More feeling out. Bendo throws a headkick that misses again. Varner does a running combo at Bendo, but doesn’t land any to his chin. A jab leg kick combo from Varner lands. More feeling out, body kick from Bendo lands. Bendo tries a right hook-left straight-right leg kick combo that leads to a side kick that Varner actually catches. Bendo jumps up to potentially grab guard but Varner catches him and throws him to the canvas. Bendo stands up. Bendo throws another right-left-leg kick combo that lands. Bendo tries a single that Varner sprawls and spins out of. Varner combos and clinches Bendo against the cage. Knees come from both fighters. Varner tries a trip but Bendo defends and Varner pulls back as Bendo tries to shoot and fails. Bendo throws a head kick and right before Varner throws another combo the bell rings.
Score: 10-9 Varner. Varner through the more telling blows, was more aggressive and controlled the action more. He defends against takedowns and slammed Bendo to the ground once.
Round 3:
Another touch gloves at the start of the fight. Bendo throws a right hook that Varner hops back from. Varner throws another combo that backs Bendo against the cage and he clinches against him with double underhooks. Bendo throws a knee. Varner backs out and throws punches that Bendo defends. Some feeling out. Bendo throws a body kick. They come together and Bendo lands a sweet knee to the body. Bendo throws another head kick that Varner blocks but it looks painful. Bendo does a hoppity hop with his hands out to distract Varner. Bendo throws a jab and Varner counters with a leg kick that almost makes Bendo fall, but he stays standing as Varner circles out. Varner throws another leg kick that Bendo lifts his leg out of the way from. Varner throws a headkick that Bendo blocks. Varner throws a fake left hook and then a head kick that hits Bendo’s head that was partially defended. Bendo throws a jab body kick combo. Then he jabs and pushes forward for a momentary clinch. Varner fakes a punch and shoots, but Bendo counters with a beautiful body knee that stuns Varner. Varner takes it though and pushes forwards with the double leg. He gets Bendo against the cage but has left his neck out. Bendo grabs a standing arm-in guillotine that Varner turns around, pauses as if to think about defending, then taps to. Ben Henderson wins via arm-in guillotine at 2:41 of Round 3, becoming the undisputed WEC Lightweight Champion.
Fighter Thoughts: There’s a few things I picked up in this fight. Bendo backs straight back till he hits that cage and then circles off of it depending on where he can get an angle on his opponent, his hands usually down. Another thing is a continuation of his first fight against Cerrone, where if he has difficulty taking an opponent down his gameplan kind of falls apart. He also seems willing to play to his opponents’ strengths, and that’s an issue, especially in a fight where he can’t get his opponent down. Personally, if the fight hadn’t end with a finish like it did, I think Bendo would’ve lost a decision here. I think this fight we started to see how far Bendo was in his development as a talent, and he almost maxed out against a then Top-15 opponent.
Keep checking back daily for more installments of The 13 Days of Bendo!
-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.
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