Contributor: Connor Dillon
Welcome to the eighth 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 eighth fight under the ZUFFA umbrella of organizations, he fought top contender, Jim Miller.
I’m not lying when I say that an easy majority of fans and pundits alike reckoned this to a lamb being led to slaughter. Jim Miller had defeated seven straight opponents, with many people likening his win streak to the potential of George St. Pierre or even Anderson Silva. Among the people he defeated were TUF winner Mac Danzig, Syndicate MMA rep Steve Lopez, dual-perspective striking coach Duane Ludwig, the Canadian Ginger Mark Bocek, Undercard Superstar’s Patron Saint Gleison Tibau, wunderkind Charles Oliveira, and wrestling champion Kamal Shalorus. He had the longest active winning streak in the Lightweight division, and his prior two losses were to the consensus #1 Frankie Edgar and #2 Gray Maynard at the time. Almost everyone was picking Jim Miller on their official predictions. Quotes like “I’d be surprised if Miller didn’t tear Henderson apart to truly establish himself as the next in line for a title shot.” filled the airwaves. When Ben Henderson stepped into the cage that night in Milwaukee, he set out to prove himself against his fiercest opponent to date. If he could emerge with a strong win, perhaps his dreams of being UFC champion would be realized.
Benson Henderson vs. Jim Miller
Round 1: Glove tap from both southpaw fighters. Bendo throwing his double jab out. Throwing the jab a little more and Miller tries to counter with a right hook that misses. Another jab and Miller throws a right-left hook combo that misses. Bendo is landing his jab early, keeping distance. A small exchange that looks like Miller took the better of. They return to the center and Bendo continues to work his jab. Miller with a fake punch leg kick combo. Couple punches from Bendo makes Miller back up, but he returns to the center.An exchange leads to the two fighters clinching together, Miller taking the early aggression and pushing Bendo back, but Bendo stops him cold and reverses, backing Miller against the cage. Bendo with heel kicks to the leg. Miller circling out, still clinched with Bendo, but Bendo in control of where they go. Miller has some nice knees to the inside of Bendo’s leg. Miller tries to extricate himself from the clinch, but Bendo gets his hands in a Gable grip. Miller slips his head underneath Bendo’s arm and grabs hold of a standing arm triangle. Bendo tries fighting back, but they move against the cage. At this point Miller as jumped up and wrapped his legs around Bendo’s midsection, but he still can’t get it. Bendo’s impregnable submission defense forces Miller to release the hold and try to take his back, but Bendo slams Miller to the ground and is immediately in half guard. Miller brings his left leg up to get Mission Control/Rubber guard. Bendo keeping control of Miller’s other leg, and he can’t bring it up to latch onto a triangle. Bendo breaks the guard and the end up working in Miller’s open guard. Bendo with some very nice elbows and ground and pound. Bendo gives Miller a tad too much room and Miller jumps forward to try and get a takedown. Bendo sprawls and latches onto a front headlock, Miller jumps up after a moment and moves against the cage but Bendo clinches with him quickly. They’re in over-under and Bendo is working to get double underhooks. Knees from both fighters land well. As Bendo gets double underhooks, Miller latches onto a kimura attempt. He brings one leg up to try and get some kind of standing guard. Bendo trips Miller to the ground, where the kimura attempt becomes a little more serious as Miller brings a leg over to get more torque. Bendo is defending, he has his hand on the inside of his leg. Miller lets go and tries to push Bendo away, but the cage right there keeps Bendo within striking distance. Bendo landing some nice shots. Miller pushes Bendo away and tries to roll over and potentially get up. Bendo says no way and sprawls on top of the kneeling Miller. Miller slowly gets to his feet and then Bendo shoots a single leg on him. Miller’s arm comes up and around Bendo’s neck, trying to grab hold of a guillotine. After several tense moments, Bendo slips out and starts landing some massive elbows and punches from half guard. Miller trying to get a couple leg lock attempts, but Bendo defends before they become anything serious and keeps landing some strong shots to end the round. The bell rings as Bendo sits up to throw some more.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. He controlled the clinching, defended the submission attempts and was able to land some good ground and pound after escaping the attempts. He dictated where the fight took place and had more offense overall.
Round 2: No glove tap this round. Miller with a jumping jab that doesn’t land. Bendo throws a couple front kicks to Miller’s head, which he defends. A hook from Miller misses. Bendo with a jab-leg kick combo that lands. Miller jumps in with a hook that lands, but Bendo counters with his own. A lot more striking in this round than the previous. Jim Miller is looking like the aggressor so far, but Bendo is landing just as many shots. Miller lands a couple shots that have Bendo backing up. He attempts a head kick that hits under Bendo’s arm. Bendo circles out and Miller follows him. Miller throws a couple shots and Bendo circles out, and Miller’s back is facing the cage. Bendo comes in with a jab-standing elbow that lands. He keeps pushing, keeping tight as Miller retreats, throwing punches and elbows. Bendo ties up with Miller and then trips him to the ground. Miller looking for a rubber guard again, but Bendo is defending. Bendo is dropping some elbows, one that looks to have split open the side of Miller’s head. Not a lot of blood yet, but a decent amount. Oh boy, Bendo is standing up throwing some punches and Miller rolls over his shoulder, latching onto Bendo’s right leg in the process. It looks like he’s going for a knee bar, but Bendo defends well, throwing ground and pound the whole time. Bendo left his leg out again and now Miller has grabbed ahold of a straight knee bar, but Bendo’s knee is pulled out too far for it to be successful. Miller lets go and tries to get up, but Bendo swirls around and is on him instantly. Miller is bleeding bad now. Miller standing up, but Bendo has double under hooks against the cage. Bendo tries a trip and it sends Miller over him. Miller almost gets Bendo’s back in the process, but he slips out and tries a guillotine against the cage that doesn’t work. Now Miller has rolled and tries for a heel hook, but Bendo is defending and throwing solid punches and great elbows. Miller lets go and Bendo has back control as Miller stands up against the cage. Bendo throws a knee and then two standing elbows before ducking under Miller’s blind punches and takes him down. Miller looking for either a sweep or to stand up. Bendo pushes him against the cage and Miller starts cage walking. Once again Miller looks for that kimura standing against the cage, and Bendo trips him down. Miller is still working that kimura, but he can’t get the leverage he needs and Bendo is defending brilliantly. Miller lets it go but still has control of that wrist. Bendo steps up and over, passing to side control. Miller sits up to get close but Bendo is still landing elbows and punches. Before the round ends, Miller tries pushing Bendo away, but Bendo stands up and lands some great punches onto Miller. Rosenthal steps between them as the bell rings.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. At the beginning of this round, Miller was the aggressor and was in control, but as soon as Bendo clinched with him about a minute in, that ended. Bendo once again dictated where they were going, had Miller under his control, and defended the submission attempts while still landing excellent ground and pound. Can’t get much clearer than this. (20-18 Bendo overall).
Round 3: Glove touch this round. Miller looks bloody and tired.Bendo with a leg kick knee combo that lands in an exchange with Miller. He tries a front kick to the face that misses. Bendo jumps in with a jab that Miller defends. Good exchanges between both fighters this first minute. Miller is the more tired fighter, but he’s certainly game. Bendo lands a leg kick that forces Miller off-balance and then he falls. Miller gets up and moves back as Bendo throws some punches that miss barely. Bendo closes the distance with a jab then a standing elbow that lands before exiting. Bendo tries an oblique kick that doesn’t land and Miller pushes forward but doesn’t land. Miller catches Bendo as he’s throwing a body kick and it knocks him down. Miller rushes forward, but Bendo grabs ahold of a leg. Miller is sprawling, but Bendo pushes forward and drives him against the cage, getting him down. Miller using his legs well to try and establish a guard, but he’s got Bendo on top controlling him. Bendo lands a lot more ground and pound. Miller rolls over his shoulder and Bendo takes his back. Miller stands up and then tries to slam Bendo off of him, but Bendo stays on him. Bendo with his hooks in and looking for the rear naked choke. He’s got his arm across Miller’s chin, not his neck and then lets go to try and get mount. As he does this though, Miller rolls over and Bendo stays on his back. Miller can’t get away from Bendo’s ground and pound. Miller eventually twists around and gets half guard, at the expense of eight or nine brutal elbows smashing his head. Bendo looking at passing to side control, and he does. He goes for a mounted crucifix, but Miller rolls over and ends up on his knees. Bendo has a front headlock and pushes Miller back against the cage. Miller now on his back but in half guard. Bendo throwing more elbows and punches down onto Miller, who is defending. Miller really busted up. Bendo pulls Miller’s legs out and stands up over him throwing down. Bendo gives Miller too much space and Miller pushes back and gets to his knees. Bendo latches onto a guillotine and flips Miller over to go for it. Miller defends and they stand up throwing caution to the wind as the bell rings to end the round.
Score: 10-8 Bendo. Outside of the first minute, Miller wasn’t competitive, period. He was dominated, busted up, and taken down repeatedly. There were two serious submission attempts from Bendo this round, along with a ridiculous amount of elbows and punches from strong top positions. Miller just couldn’t string anything together to get it going. (30-26 Bendo overall)
The Judges score it: 30-27, 29-28, and 30-26 in favor of rising star, Ben “Smooth” Henderson. Who the hell gave Jim Miller the first round? Bendo defended the submissions and used those positions to land punches, and offensive measure.
Fighter Thoughts: This fight was Bendo’s coming out party to the fans and pundits alike. In his second UFC fight, Henderson dominated the man many had pegged as the only challenger to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. As to the fight itself, I like how far Bendo’s stand up has advanced. It was crisp, clean, and still pretty wild. He did well against an excellent boxer in Jim Miller, and used his leg kicks sparingly, which is a little surprising as they worked quite well. His elbows, both standing and on the ground, were beautiful to watch, as they busted up Miller bad. When Bendo did get knocked down in the third round it was because he was caught mid-combination, and with a quicker opponent I’m sure it could have ended up worse than it did against Jim Miller. Overall, this was a really good showcase for everything Bendo does well, control in the clinch and in top control landing solid ground and pound.
(Keep checking back daily for more of The 13 Days of Bendo leading up to his title fight with Anthony Pettis!)
–Connor can be reached @connorhavok.
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