“I’m getting older … I’m 29 now, almost 30. At my age it’s getting hard for me to make the weight class at 155. So, I wouldn’t mind having a break and having one fight at 170 — having a St-Pierre fight.”
“I want to maintain my integrity, I don’t want to be one of those guys who cut 20 pounds of water weight and I step in the cage and look sloppy or look fat and don’t perform well. I want to make sure that I am fully prepared. It’s not just about making weight. It’s about maintaining that strict diet, that strict lifestyle. And it gets harder and harder as guys get older — you fill out more. And I’m getting older.
“I had the metabolism of a 19-year-old when I was 25. But now that I’m 29, my metabolism is like that of a 25-year-old. I’m still ahead of the curve, but I am slowing down. I have to work that much harder, but I can still make 155 for the rest of my career. I can do it. I’m not against doing it.”
Those are the words of Ben Henderson, spoken to ESPN on Friday before his fight with Gilbert Melendez on FOX with 100% sincerity. With Benson’s division quickly running dry of contenders (the winner of Gray Maynard vs. TJ Grant is up next) Ben Henderson is looking for new challengers and one less weight cut. Who does he want? GSP. This isn’t the first time he’s called out the welterweight GOAT, but this time it has to be at least considered a little more seriously.
We looked at the fight and decided it would be best for discussion purposes to break it down. Here we go:
Ben Henderson:
Height: 5 ft 9
Weight: 155 but can easily fight comfortably at 170 if he had to.
Reach: 70 inches
Southpaw.
Abilities of note: Good submissions, BJJ brown belt, fights longer than his reach with his natural quickness. Probably the best lightweight right now, but we’d like to see him fight Gil once more.
Geroges St-Pierre:
Height: 5 ft 10
Weight: 170 but could fight at middleweight without “doing it properly” if he wanted to.
Reach: 76 inches
Orthodox.
Abilities of note: Great wrestling for MMA, good boxing and overall one of the greatest fighters ever. No point in spelling it out here, we know GSP.
Hypothetical fight breakdown:
Benson is quick, has good kicks and can muscle around guys at 155. In his fight against Gilbert, for the first time he didn’t look huge compared to his opponent. He has a good chin, excellent submission defense and has that killer guillotine.
It could be said that since joining the UFC Benson’s unsliced Achilles heel is his TD defense. Sure, he dominated Jim Miller, but as evidenced below, if Benson isn’t fighting someone he can take down at will, he can be taken down, and GSP can take down anybody, so you do the math.
In the stand up, both men are extremely active, with Benson averaging 72 significant strikes in his UFC run, and GSP with an 83 per fight average. Granted, GSP has had plenty of five round fights to accumulate more strikes, 3 more than Ben in this case. There is, however, GSP’s six-inch reach advantage, which would be difficult for Benson to overcome without a struggle, and the general size difference between GSP and Ben.
When it comes down to it, there’s no reason why GSP wouldn’t take Ben down to the ground and pound on him. Sure, maybe Ben would be able to get up a few times, but do we really think GSP with all of his savvy would let this fight get away from him?
Prediction: GSP by unanimous decision.
What do you guys think?
