It’s hard to argue for Ben Henderson as the next in line to face Anthony Pettis for the lightweight championship, considering he’s lost to Pettis twice and is the new king of split-decision victories. Still, who else is there? TJ Grant is still injured, Jose Aldo has a murderer’s row to fight at featherweight and Nate Diaz and Josh Thomson are both 1-1 in their last two.
Dare we see a third Pettis/Henderson fight, despite Bendo going 0-2 against Pettis? Probably not, according to Dana White:
“No, but, I mean, that was a Ben Henderson fight. When Ben Henderson has the title, or he’s trying to get back to the title, that’s a Ben Henderson fight. I mean, we’ve seen that fight a million times.
“It’s not about even being more aggressive. He’s a talented fighter. He’s just one of these guys — he’s a grinder, he’s not a finisher.”
“Ben Henderson lost twice to Pettis, the champion, and he got destroyed last fight. He didn’t do anything that’s going to have anybody screaming, ‘Oh, I want to see him get another shot at Pettis.’”
My vote is for Gilbert Melendez vs. Pettis. I thought he beat Benson (a running theme) and frankly, that would be a hell of a fight.
