Dana White Says Ben Henderson Won’t Get Title Shot After UFC on FOX 10 Performance

(Henderson vs. Thomson, one of the rare fights where the referee is more gassed than the fighters. Photo: David Banks, USA TODAY Sports)

Benson Henderson’s return from defeat at the hands of Anthony Pettis was bittersweet; he won a very close, some may say controversial, decision against Josh Thomson at last night’s UFC on Fox 10. The bout was a rather lacklustre affair and likely won’t win Bendo many fans.

UFC President Dana White has been vocal about ‘Smooth’ and his performance against ‘The Punk’, talking to Las Vegas’ KVVU Fox 5 in the aftermath of last night’s main event:

“The fight was a lot closer. I don’t think either guy really went after it and tried to pull out the win. As far as Ben Henderson fights go, this is the typical Ben Henderson fight. This is the way his fights go. He’s a grinder, and he grinds out decisions.”

Fans are used to the ‘grinding’ style of Bendo by now, but the truth is that it may work against him in the long run. As much as I don’t agree with it, the fact remains that selling tickets by being exciting means more than edging out decisions. White continued:

“This is always a problem. My thing is, you guys both know you’re fighting for the chance to get a shot at the title, OK? you’re getting a shot at the title. You go. Go, go, go. Go for broke. Don’t ever leave it in the judges’ hands, or at least put on enough of a performance to know you won because you can never trust the judges.”

It appeared that neither fighter went for broke last night; in the case of Thomson, he had sustained a pretty nasty broken hand, as for Bendo-that is unknown. What we do know is that Henderson wasn’t firing on all cylinders, and his performance was not impressive enough to earn him a shot at Pettis’ title.

“Ben Henderson lost twice to Pettis, the champion, and he got destroyed last fight,” White said. “He didn’t do anything that’s going to have anybody screaming, ‘Oh, I want to see him get another shot at Pettis.’”

The UFC is big business nowadays and fighters have to adapt their style at times to fit the bill, Jon Fitch is one such fighter who did not get with the programme. The question is where does Bendo go from here? Another big win would surely earn the former champ another shot, but a finish at UFC on Fox 10 would have probably done so too.