9 Questions for Benson Henderson

Benson Henderson will look to make some history when he challenges Andrey Koreshkov for the Bellator MMA welterweight championship in the Bellator 153 main event on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. If “Smooth” emerges from his promotional debut victorious, he will become the first fighter to have won titles in Bellator, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting.

In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Henderson discussed his departure from the UFC, his move to Bellator and his forthcoming title fight with Koreshkov:

Sherdog.com: Koreshkov is a well-rounded fighter who has only been beaten once. What do you see in his game and how he fights?
Henderson: He’s a tough kid. He throws his hands like he means it. He’s not scared to throw his hands, either. A lot of these guys have real technical hands, but they don’t really throw hard; not this guy. He’s not overly technical when he throws, but when he does, they have mean intentions all over them. That says a lot of about his character -- that and the fact that he is not afraid at all to throw some spinning back kicks. He throws some pretty unorthodox stuff out there, and it takes a lot of courage to throw that type of stuff. It always keeps your opponent on their toes when you do that.

Sherdog.com: How have you seen his style progress over his last few fights, especially since his loss?
Henderson: I can tell that he’s worked quite a bit on his wrestling and grappling. He was out-grappled quite a bit when he fought Ben Askren. A couple of fights later, we see him using his much-improved grappling to defeat Douglas Lima and win the belt. That said a lot about him as an athlete and of his coaching staff [and] his team, in that he was able to improve so much on that one aspect of his game to the point where he was able to beat a great fighter and win a world title.

Sherdog.com: What other obvious improvements have you seen in his game?
Henderson: Everything, really. He’s become a very well-rounded fighter. He does everything well, and he’s improved in pretty much all areas of his game. He’s also very confident, too, and you can see that when he fights. He just won the title, so his confidence levels are likely through the roof. I expect him to be at his absolute best when we fight because this is also going to be the biggest fight of his career. This is huge for him, so you better believe that he’ll be chomping at the bit to take me out. I better be on my A game and make sure I am at my best so I can have my hand raised.

Sherdog.com: How are you approaching this fight?
Henderson: I’m going to fight this one like all of my fights. This one I have to win. I know what dangers he brings to the table, so I need to focus on what I have to do out there. I know what I have to worry about in regards to improving my own game and forcing my strategies on him. How will I impose my will on him in this fight?

Sherdog.com: This will be your debut in Bellator. Obviously, there is a lot of attention on this event because of you, a former UFC champion, fighting in a rival promotion. How does that make you feel?
Henderson: I feel like I always do: excited. This is a big fight, and I’ve had a lot of big fights. This is a big moment, and pretty much my entire career has been filled with these. I’ve had nothing but big fights since the early days of my career going back to the WEC up until now. This is a critical fight for me, a huge moment, and this is it. This is the fight of my life; this is career-defining for me. That’s how it goes when you reach this point in your career. You can’t have a bad night or a bad fight. You’ve got to bring it.

Sherdog.com: What happens if you lose this fight?
Henderson: That’s a good question. What happens if I lose? What happens? The next morning [happens]. Does the sun not come up the next morning? Of course it does. Is my wife not going to love me anymore if I lose? I’m pretty sure my wife will still love me and be by my side if I lose. So what happens? You have to get back in the gym and start over eventually. You either wait a while before you go back or you get back in there right away. No matter what, you have to get back in there. You work on your mistakes and what you need to improve on, but that happens no matter if you win or lose. With me, it’s the same whether I win or lose. I can either go back into the gym and be a little sad because I lost or feel great because I won, but regardless, you get back in the gym to improve.

Sherdog.com: The MMA world was surprised when you parted ways with the UFC and signed with Bellator. What was going through your head during that entire process?
Henderson: It was good, actually. Near the end of my six-fight deal that I had with them, they offered me a contract extension. It was right before my second-to-last fight on that deal, but I told them no thank you. Then before my last fight on that deal, they offered me a contract extension, but I told them no thank you. When my contract was up, they offered me a new deal, but again, I told them no thank you. They then came back with another offer, so they wanted me pretty badly. I wanted to see what else was out there for me, and I talked to a lot of MMA promotions and some kickboxing promotions, as well. After looking at everything, Bellator was the best fit for myself, for my family.

Sherdog.com: After being a part of the Zuffa family for so long, does it feel any different being with Bellator?
Henderson: Oh, Bellator’s been awesome, but really, it’s all the same stuff. We go into a cage. It’s really not too complicated. I mean, we all train, we work hard, we watch our diet and we fight. There’s not too much to it. It’s a fun ride, though. Zuffa was amazing, and I had many great memories and moments while I fought for them. I was able to build up my name [and] my brand with them, and now Bellator treats me a certain way because of what I did with Zuffa.

Sherdog.com: Bellator has jumped feet first into the world of kickboxing. Given your taekwondo background, is it safe to assume that you might compete in Bellator Kickboxing in the future?
Henderson: That’s actually one of the main reasons why I opted to sign with Bellator. They were very open with wanting me -- or not having a problem with me -- fighting in other sports. That was something I always wanted was to have a kickboxing match, a boxing match, whatever, and Bellator was up front and cool about it from the start. Then two weeks later, lo and behold, they announce their new Bellator Kickboxing, and I was like, “Oh, touché! I see what you guys did there. Very well played.” That was very smart on Bellator’s part.