Michael Chandler vs Benson Henderson: Lightweight Bellator World Championship
SAP Center in San Jose, Nov 19 2016
Well, we've been waiting for this one for a long time. Not many fights have been talked about since the "Bjorn Era" and this is one of them. Chandler and Henderson were champions of rival promotions at the same time (Chandler in Bellator and Henderson in the UFC) and them coming together to see who was REALLY the greatest lightweight in the world was a dream matchup. Both fighters have been through their ups and downs since the early days of 2012, but they are finally squaring off in the Bellator cage with the title on the line this Saturday.
If you could combine Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson you would get the perfect lightweight. One one fighter lacks, the other one has in spades. That's part of what makes this fight so intriguing to begin with.
Everyone knows Benson Henderson's style. In 14 UFC appearances he went to a decision 10 times. The level of competition during his UFC/WEC run was murderous: he fought Frankie Edgar (twice), Donald Cerrone (three times), Anthony Pettis (twice), RDA, Josh Thompson, Nate Diaz, and Gilbert Melendez. Considering he holds a losing record only to Pettis and RDA, that's one hell of a lightweight run.
He is versatile, athletic, and has a unique combination of "embrace the grind" wrestling and unorthodox striking attacks. He's just as likely to mash an opponent against the fence as he is to throw a spinning back-kick, and that's not something many fighters do. The knock on him is that he rarely goes out of his way to finish a fighter, and when he does it is usually the result of a positional mistake that allows a front choke or RNC. In fact his 10 submission wins are ALL front chokes or RNCs. He outworks fighters and beats them in the later rounds with his perseverance and endurance. The good news is the you'll probably see the final bell with Bendo, the bad news is that you probably won't win.
Michael Chandler is perhaps Ben Henderson's polar opposite. Of Iron Mike's 15 wins, only 2 have been by decision and the last one was more than 5 years ago. He has D-1 All-American wrestling credentials but has grown into a devastating striker. Patricky Pitbull, Dave Rickles, and Akihiro Gono have all been leveled by his explosive punches in the opening round. Eddie Alvarez, Rick Hawn, Derek Campos, and Marcin Held can all attest to his submission ability as well. It isn't pretty, but if you are in trouble on the ground and give Chandler positional dominance he (like Henderson) will choke your lights out.
Chandler's kryptonite has been his inability to pace himself in long fights. He has never won a decision in a 5-round fight and 2 of his 3 losses were decided by the judges. Chandler relies on his explosiveness and aggression, two qualities that tend to suffer as a tough fight wears on. At his best he is a whirlwind of destruction, at his worst he is an easy target who walks into punches looking for a kill shot. In his epic fights with Eddie Alvarez he had difficulty sustaining his offense from round to round. One round he would look dominant, the next he would look like the walking dead as he moved around trying to recharge his depleted batteries. He was tough enough to see the final bell in his close decision losses to Will Brooks and Eddie Alvarez, but his fatigue in later rounds caught up to him both times. He also has glaring defensive issues: he loves coming forward but hardly ever moves his head or parries punches and he rarely cuts angles.
The X-factor here is the timing of the matchup. Henderson was a blue-chip free agent this year when he signed with Bellator, but he hasn't looked good in his new home. Partly it was his reach exceeding his grasp. His first fight was against then 170 champ Andre Koreshkov. Henderson pulled every trick he could in that fight, but it was never competitive. Andre tee'd off on Ben for 5 rounds and did everything but stop him.
His next fight was against former 145 kingpin Patricio Pitbull and the outcome bizarre to say the least. Most people chalked up Ben's loss in his Bellator debut to the fact that he was fighting a larger, rangier fighter with real power. Against a puffed-up featherweight who only stood 5'6", most fans thought that Ben would play the outside and be far too active for the power-punching style of Pitbull. In a bizarre role-reversal, it was Ben pressuring throughout the fight as Pitbull played the outside and tried to land single punches. Although he pressed forward the entire time, Ben was surprisingly inactive and offered little meaningful offense against a fighter who was naturally much smaller. The Ben Henderson who threw everything he could against a gigantic welterweight seemed tentative against a short featherweight. I gave Pitbull the first round and during the 2nd he suffered an injury when Henderson checked one of his kicks. Ben got the win he needed, but the fans were not pleased with his performance and boos rained down during his post-fight interview.
Michael Chandler is coming into this fight riding a streak that has marked the rebirth of his MMA career. After 2 losses to Will Brooks (one by stoppage), some were questioning whether Iron Mike had seen his best days in the sport and would be relegated to gate-keeper status. After blasting Derek Campos and Caveman Rickels, Chandler got a shot at the vacant lightweight title against Patricky Pitbull and made the most of it with highlight-reel KO in the opening round. As far as momentum goes it is clear that Chandler is regaining his stride while Henderson has yet to truly find his footing.
This is a legacy fight. Henderson has made a career out of defeating the top names in the sport and if he adds the Bellator title to his list of accomplishments it's hard to keep him out of the discussion when talking about the greatest lightweights of all time. Michael Chandler has been a crowd-pleaser from day one, but hasn't hasn't defeated the NAMES necessary to take his place among the division's elite in the eyes of most fans. A dominant win is necessary for both fighters to silence the critics and nothing can be more motivating than that.
