Interview with WEC’s Lightweight Sensation Ben Henderson

Ben “Smooth” Henderson (9-1) has quickly become a star in the WEC’s lightweight division. Since his WEC debut last January, he has defeated the likes of Anthony Njokuani, Shane Roller, and most recently defeated Donald Cerrone for the Interim WEC Lightweight title. This Sunday at 9PM ET from the Arco Arena in Sacramento LIVE on Versus, Henderson will look to become the undisputed WEC lightweight champ as he squares off with Jamie Varner in the main event. We had the chance to catch up with the lightweight sensation.

Fight Trader: You had an impressive win against Donald Cerrone this past October in a very entertaining affair. What did you learn from that fight?

Ben Henderson: I knew in my heart I could go a hard five rounds. It’s one thing to know it and another thing to prove it not only to myself, but to my coaches and the fans and to everybody. To go out there and prove it was big. It was my first five round fight that went the distance the full 25 minutes at a pretty good pace.

Fight Trader: Where did you come up with the game plan of posturing up leaning on the legs of Cerrone and blasting him from top position?

BH: That’s all my coach John Crouch. You stay postured up high you’re not in a whole lot of danger of getting in any submissions. You pretty much have full free reign to throw down some hard shots from up top. Your hips are in so they can’t really upkick you as much, but then when you get tired and lazy, and my head got down, and there were more submissions attempts. I got caught with the upkick towards the end. When you do the position right, it’s pretty hard to defend. You have pretty free reign to rain down some good heavy shots. It was all John Crouch. He’s been working on what I was working with since before I even started fighting.

FT: Cerrone had you in some precarious positions. How deep were those submission attempts?

BH: There were pretty deep but not too bad to be honest. The worst one was the guillotine in the first 45 seconds of the fight. I was going in for a takedown and he had me in the guillotine. I have a pretty tough neck regardless, I was going to get the takedown and work from there, but then I started getting tired. Then it got tight so I knew I had to defend. The rest of the submissions were close, but it was just enough where I wasn’t in that much danger.

FT: The fight with Varner was announced right after the win over Cerrone win. Were you able to take any time off or did you get right back into training?

BH: The up kick in the last 20 seconds of the fight which got my eye made me take two weeks off. They wouldn’t allow me to run, jump rope, or jar my eye at all. After those two weeks were done, I jumped right back into camp. I went into Boston to help Kenny Florian out who was in his training camp and he was in the middle of his. There wasn’t too much time in between.

FT: Jamie Varner is on a 5 fight win streak. While not giving away your game plan, what flaws do you feel you can expose?

BH: I think everyone has their flaws. Jamie is a good champ, and he’s been champ for awhile. It’ll be tough, but he doesn’t have the great Jiu Jitsu. He has decent hands and good cardio. Everyone has flaws, and we’re going to find them.

FT: He hasn’t fought for close to a year due to injury. Do you think he’s going to be rusty at all?

BH: I don’t think so. He’s a world champion first of all. He has some world class training partners and I think they’re going to do a real good job to make sure that isn’t a factor.

FT: How difficult has this training camp been for you? I know you and Efrain went to train with BJ Penn prior to his fight with Diego.

BH: All training camps are tough. If you don’t have a tough training camp, you’re not doing something right. It was a hard training camp training with BJ Penn, Kenny Florian as mentioned and all my other training partners. It was tough for sure.

FT: Can you tell us about your meteoric rise in the WEC?

BH: I feel blessed with the way it has gone. I’m just hoping it keeps going higher and going the way it has been.

FT: What does it mean for you to be fighting at Arco Arena in front of what is sure to be a capacity crowd and a worldwide television audience on Versus?

BH: It means a lot to me. I chose to do this as a career and it’s not the easiest thing to do. A lot of people asked me if this is all what I want to do. Some think its crazy, but it’s what I chose to do as a career. I like pushing myself to see how good I can be. There’s a lot of hard work and dedication involved. The sacrifice, getting beat up, and being choked has all been worth it.

FT: Can you give us a prediction for your fight this Sunday against Jamie Varner?

BH: I’m not really too good at predictions. For the most part, I do predict my hand will be raised at the end and its happened every time in my career except once. I predict my hand will be raised at the end. First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord God up above for blessing me in my entire life. I want to give him his thanks and praise not just on fight days or after you win a Super Bowl, I want to give him his praise each and every day. It takes a village to train a fighter. To everyone who has helped me for this training camp and all my training camps, you know who you are, thank you for everything. I want to thank all my friends and family and everyone at the gym in Arizona.

To take a look at Ben’s Fighter Profile on Fight Trader go here
Ben Henderson’s Fighter Profile

By: Ray Flores