Henderson set to defend title against Pettis in UFC 164
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
The first time they fought, Anthony Pettis delivered the “Showtime” kick to help win the fifth and pivotal round against then-World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Benson Henderson in 2010.
Three years later, the duo will compete in a long-awaited rematch when Henderson attempts to defend his title against Pettis in the main event of Saturday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship 164 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
“For me the whole fight was a pretty close fight,” Henderson said of the 2010 bout. “I think on all the judges’ scorecards, if you look back on it, all the judges’ scorecards had it tied up 2-2 going to the fifth round. So yes, it was a superclose fight. It came down to it. Anthony let it all out and landed a pretty cool kick and ever since I’ve been working to redeem myself.”
Henderson has not lost since, with victories in his first seven UFC events. His focus was on recapturing the title, which he did with a decision over Frankie Edgar 18 months ago. Still, the loss to Pettis remains on his mind.
“Obviously it’s a little bigger because I have only lost once in the past seven years, (and) it happened to be to Anthony,” Henderson, 19-2, said. “So of course you can say you want to get that loss back. You can’t really get a loss back though. If you lose, you lose. You’ve got to move on, man up in life and that sort of stuff. So, it is what it is. It will be nice to just go out with him again, get my hands on him, that’s for sure. But it’s just another fight; it’s just another title defense.”
Pettis, 16-2, was initially slated to receive a title shot when the UFC absorbed the WEC after he won that promotion’s belt. But due to delays, he accepted and lost a fight to Clay Guida, which dropped him from the upper echelon of contenders. He won his last three fights, however, to claim his championship opportunity.
“This is everything I wanted,” Pettis said. “I’ve been waiting for this title shot for so long, and it’s finally here.”
The main card, which can be seen on pay-per-view at 5 p.m. HST, also features heavyweights Frank Mir vs. Josh Barnett, featherweights Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida, heavyweights Ben Rothwell vs. Brandon Vera and featherweights Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier.
