Can Benson Henderson Make a Real Impact in the UFC Welterweight Division?

What did we see over the weekend at UFC Fight Night Broomfield as Benson Henderson took on Brandon Thatch? Was it a mere tremor? Or! an earthquake in the UFC’s welterweight division. Although the oddsmakers had Henderson as the favourite going into the bout, there’s no doubting a lot of people thought that Thatch’s sheer size would be a huge problem for the smaller former lightweight Champion.

But whatever Henderson lacks in size, he sure makes up for in sheer workload and with an engine that is second to none. Consistently pushing the pace, keeping light on his toes throughout the contest, Henderson was able to nullify much of Thatches offensive game.

Then, of course, you had the speed. Making the most of his smaller frame and explosiveness, Henderson kept himself on the move picking his shots where he could and wearing the big man down piece by piece. It was Thatch’s first time seeing around four in his professional career and it showed. Looking slow and lethargic in the fourth, it’s difficult to know if it was Benson’s pace or Thatch’s layoff which had him in trouble.

Is Thatch just one of those big guys who need to finish a fight quickly or risk running out of gas in the later rounds? He is after all the guy who lives and trains at high altitude right, so one would have expected him to be able to stay the course. Perhaps even more so than some of his fellow welterweights!

Benson Henderson At Welterweight

Benson Henderson’s size and conditioning could be a huge factor as we look forward to other potential match-ups in the welterweight division. How will the other monsters in the division dealing with the Wiley super athleticism and conditioning he brings? He has already shown he can handle the bigger punches and kicks, exiting the fight with little obvious damage.

And his height isn’t as much of a factor as some might think. With top ten fighters such as the former champion Johny Hendricks, Tyron Woodley and Hector Lombard also measuring in at 5ft 9″. How far can Benson Henderson really take it?

With him angling for a potential matchup against Rory MacDonald, who for many is the division’s number one contender… A win would be seismic and truly shake up a division which at the moment seems to be struggling for direction! With no clear cut number one contender, dropping Smooth into the mix could ruffle all kinds of feathers. Is Henderson the man to smooth things over?

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