Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Lightweight division for Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. He is considered one of the greatest lightweight MMA fighters of all time and is tied with B.J. Penn,
Frankie Edgar, and Khabib Nurmagomedov for the second-most UFC lightweight title defenses.
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Early life
Benson Henderson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to a Korean mother and an African American father. He has an older brother, Julius, who was born in South Korea. He was raised in Federal Way, Washington. When Henderson was approximately nine years old, his mother, Song-Hwa (née Kim), insisted that he take Tae Kwon Do lessons with his brother. "She's Korean, I'm half-Korean, and it's the traditional Korean martial art, so she wanted us to do that to get a little bit of the culture and tradition," he says. Both Benson and his brother attained black belts in Tae Kwon Do.
He attended Decatur High School from 1998 to 2001. While in high school, Benson became a part of the wrestling team. In 2000 Benson's junior year of high school, Benson qualified for the state wrestling tournament at 125lbs but did not place. In 2001 Benson's senior year of high school, Benson qualified for the state wrestling tournament at 135lbs placing 2nd. After graduating from high school, he attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska and graduated in 2006 with a double degree in criminal justice and sociology. While attending Dana College, Henderson was on the wrestling team, and was twice named an NAIA All-American. Benson placed 5th at nationals in 2005 at 157lbs, after losing by 1 point in his semifinals match. Benson placed 5th again in 2006 at 157lbs.
Mixed martial arts career
Henderson turned professional in 2006, winning his first match against Dan Gregary. He lost his third fight to Rocky Johnson via technical submission. However, this defeat was a minor setback. He rebounded with four straight wins before facing his toughest fight yet, against a UFC veteran, Diego Saraiva. Henderson came prepared as he dominated Saraiva for three rounds, winning a unanimous decision and his 7th professional win.
World Extreme Cagefighting
Three months later, Henderson made his World Extreme Cagefighting debut on January 25, 2009, at WEC 38 against Anthony Njokuani. Henderson defeated Njokuani with a guillotine choke early in round two.
Henderson faced Shane Roller on April 5, 2009, at WEC 40. Henderson won the bout via first-round TKO.
Henderson was given an opportunity to fight for the Interim WEC Lightweight Championship against Donald Cerrone when lightweight champion Jamie Varner was unable to defend his title due to an injury. The fight took place on October 10, 2009, at WEC 43. Henderson won an exciting back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision. Both Henderson and Cerrone were awarded with an additional purse of $20,000 for Fight of the Night. The bout was also awarded 2009 Fight of the Year for all of MMA by Sherdog.com
Henderson faced Jamie Varner to unify the WEC Lightweight Championship at WEC 46 on January 10, 2010. After being outboxed and outwrestled in the first two rounds, Henderson came back and caught Varner in a standing guillotine choke ending the fight at 2:41 of the third round.
Henderson had his first title defense in a rematch with Donald Cerrone on April 24, 2010, at WEC 48. defeating Cerrone via guillotine choke in the first round. The win earned him a Submission of the Night bonus award.
Henderson faced Anthony Pettis on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53. Henderson lost his title by unanimous decision. The fight won Fight of the Night honors.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.
Henderson made his UFC debut at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011, where he faced Mark Bocek. Henderson won the fight via unanimous decision.
Henderson next faced Jim Miller on August 14, 2011, at UFC on Versus 5. Henderson dominated the streaking Miller throughout the fight, utilizing a stiff jab, great transitions, and vicious ground and pound throughout the match to snap Miller's 7 fight win streak, the third longest in the UFC at the time. Despite being threatened with multiple deep submission attempts, Henderson escaped each attempt and advanced position with increasingly brutal punches and elbows. He earned a unanimous decision (30-27, 29–28, 30–26).
Henderson faced Clay Guida on November 12, 2011, at UFC on Fox 1. He won the fight via unanimous decision after three rounds in an action packed war that earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors. With the win, he became the #1 contender for the UFC Lightweight title.
Henderson faced Frankie Edgar on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144. Henderson defeated Edgar via unanimous decision to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion. Both participants earned Fight of the Night honors for their performance.
A rematch with Edgar took place on August 11, 2012, at UFC 150. In a bout that was very tightly contested, Henderson defeated Edgar again, this time via split decision.
Henderson faced Nate Diaz on December 8, 2012, at UFC on Fox 5. Henderson punished Diaz with kicks, superior wrestling and ground and pound, Henderson knocked Diaz down twice with punches and was able to take his back on numerous occasions earning a unanimous decision victory.
Henderson faced the final Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, and promotional newcomer Gilbert Melendez on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7. Henderson won the fight by a closely contested split decision. After 3 consecutive wins to retain the title, Henderson tied B.J. Penn with the highest number of title defenses as a lightweight.
Bellator MMA
On February 1, 2016, Henderson announced that he had signed with Bellator MMA. In his debut, he faced Andrey Koreshkov on April 22, 2016, at Bellator 153 for the Bellator Welterweight Championship. Henderson lost the fight by unanimous decision.
For his second fight with the promotion, Henderson made his return to the lightweight division to fight Patrício Pitbull in the main event at Bellator 160 on August 26, 2016. The bout ended in anticlimactic fashion as Pitbull stopped himself early in round two to declare he had sustained a leg injury. As a result, Henderson was awarded a TKO victory due to injury and earned a title shot against Michael Chandler. It was revealed post-fight that Freire had broken his shin in the first round after Henderson checked a low kick with his knee.
On August 31, 2016, it was announced that Henderson would challenge Michael Chandler for the Bellator Lightweight Championship on November 19, 2016, at Bellator 165. Henderson lost the back-and-forth bout via split decision.
Henderson faced Patricky Pitbull at Bellator 183 on September 23, 2017. He lost the fight via split decision.
Henderson faced returning Bellator veteran Roger Huerta in the main event at Bellator 196 on April 6, 2018. He won the fight via submission in the second round.
Henderson faced Saad Awad at Bellator 208 on October 13, 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
In November 2018, Bellator officials revealed that Henderson had signed a new exclusive, long-term contract with Bellator.
Henderson next faced Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 220 on April 27, 2019. He won the fight via split decision. 8 out of 9 media scores gave it to Piccolotti.
Henderson faced Bellator newcomer Myles Jury in the headliner of Bellator 227 on September 27, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Professional Fighters League
Henderson came back from retirement and faced Patrick Habirora on May 23, 2026, at PFL Brussels. He lost the fight via knockout in just 20 seconds in round one
Professional grappling career
Henderson competed against fellow MMA veteran Ben Saunders in a superfight at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 1 on December 16, 2021, and won the match by unanimous decision. He then faced Demian Maia in the main event of Polaris 20 on June 25, 2022, losing the match by unanimous decision.
Henderson entered the ADCC Arizona Open on August 5, 2023, and went 3–1 in the 83 kg division.
Henderson competed in a welterweight no gi match against Neiman Gracie as the main event of ADXC 1 on October 20, 2023. He lost the match by submission.
Boxing career
Stake Pro Tournament
On August 20, 2024 it was announced that Henderson would make his professional boxing debut in a tournament hosted by Stake on MF & DAZN: X Series 18 – Stake Pro Tournament Card on September 14 at the Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His first opponent in the semifinals was American mixed martial artist Chris Avila with English professional boxer Idris Virgo vs English influencer Fes Batista in the other bracket. Henderson defeated Avila by unanimous decision and advanced to the finals, where he faced Idris Virgo in the co-main event. Henderson was defeated by Virgo by unanimous decision.
Personal life
Henderson is a Christian and often refers to his faith in post-fight interviews. He is also a teetotaler, having never consumed alcohol or drugs in his life. Regarding said lifestyle, he stated: I don't drink—I've never had a sip of alcohol. I've never had a puff of a cigarette or weed or anything like that. Growing up in Tacoma, that wasn't a very popular choice. I made a decision, and whenever it came up, I passed the dutchie to the left hand side ... People have seen that. They see I don't do the club scene. By people seeing that, that affects them in a bigger way than me talking about it.
Henderson and his wife Maria have four children: three sons and a daughter. Henderson proposed to his fiancée in the Octagon after his win over Gilbert Melendez at UFC on Fox 7.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC Lightweight Championship (One time; former)
Three successful title defenses
Tied (B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar and Khabib Nurmagomedov) for the second most consecutive Lightweight title defenses in UFC history (3)
Unified the UFC Lightweight and Strikeforce Lightweight Championships
Fight of the Night (Three times) vs. Clay Guida, Frankie Edgar 1 and Brandon Thatch
Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Rustam Khabilov
UFC.com Awards
2011: Ranked #2 Import of the Year, Ranked #5 Fighter of the Year & Ranked #3 Fight of the Year vs. Clay Guida
2012: Fighter of the Year & Ranked #4 Fight of the Year vs. Frankie Edgar 1
World Extreme Cagefighting
WEC Lightweight Championship (One time; former)
One successful title defense
Interim WEC Lightweight Championship (One time; former)
Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis
Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Donald Cerrone
ESPN
Submission grappling
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
2011 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship Brown Belt Bronze Medalist
2014 World Jiu Jitsu No-Gi Championship Black Belt Bronze Medalist
Arizona State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
AZSBJJF MVP of the Year (2010)
Arizona State Championship Brown Belt Middleweight Gold Medalist (Two times)
Arizona State Championship Purple Belt Middleweight Gold Medalist (Two times)
Arizona State Championship Openweight Gold Medalist (Three times)
Amateur wrestling
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
NAIA All-American (2005, 2006)
Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
WIAA 4A State Runner-Up (2001)
WIAA 4A All-State (2001)
