Yahoo Sports UFC Fight Night 79 Results: Benson Henderson Squeaks Past Jorge Masvidal; Future Cloudy
Benson Henderson, whose mother is Korean, has always wanted to fight in South Korea, and on Saturday, he finally got the opportunity. As the UFC made its first trip to the country, Henderson squared off with Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC Fight Night 79 in Seoul.
A former lightweight champion, Henderson was originally slated to face Thiago Alves in the welterweight headliner. But when Alves had to drop out due to injury, Masvidal quickly agreed to leave his fight with Dong Hyun Kim behind and step into his first UFC main event.
The first frame saw Masvidal establish control from the center of the Octagon. As Henderson tried to chop at his lead leg with kicks, Masvidal countered well with his boxing, and did some good work to the body when he and Henderson were in close quarters.
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While neither fighter edged ahead in the early part of the second frame, Henderson came on strong in the last half of the round, turning a Masvidal takedown attempt to his favor. As they regained their feet, Henderson had head control on Masvidal and peppered him with knees to the chin. Masvidal put a hand down to stop the head attacks, but still ate several knees to the body before the horn sounded.
Masvidal again took the center of the cage in round three, but as he continued to try and maintain control from there, Henderson began to figure out the range and a strategy to put the pressure on.
Instead of trying to beat Masvidal in a pure striking battle on the feet, Henderson worked harder and harder for the takedown. Although he couldn’t keep Masvidal cleanly on the mat, Henderson’s wrestling, both in the takedown position and in the clinch, began to give him the edge in the fight.
Henderson used his wrestling to negate much of Masvidal’s striking in the final rounds, but he also used it to his advantage, finding creative ways to attack with heel kicks to the legs, knees to the head and body, upward elbow strikes from the single-leg position, and more.
Although neither fighter mounted much more damage than the other, Henderson seemed to outwork Masvidal, especially as the final minutes ticked off the clock, and it paid off when the scorecards were read. Henderson was awarded the split-decision victory.
It was a highly technical battle, and a solid performance from both, but especially from Masvidal, considering he had just two weeks to move from a three-round bout to a five-rounder.
“Hats off to Jorge Masvidal for stepping up and giving me this fight. Thanks to him for taking the fight, so I had a fight here in South Korea,” said an appreciative Henderson after his hand was raised.
“Had a good fight. Thankful I got my hand raised. We all know decisions can go either way. It was fun. I enjoyed it.”
Interestingly, it was the final fight on Henderson’s eight-fight UFC contract. He opted not to ink a new deal prior to the fight, leaving his future with the promotion in doubt. Whether or not that means he’ll eventually test the free-agent waters remains to be seen.
Henderson made the situation even more intriguing, however, by taking off his gloves and setting them down on the canvas, and then picking them up again after saying, “Was that impressive enough for you?” and then walking out of the Octagon.
