UFC 155-pound champ Benson Henderson (top) at the 2013 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship Tournament. Photo: Erik Fontanez

UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson is another Jiu-Jitsu black belt confirmed in the 2013 ADCC, the charming no-gi tournament scheduled for October 19 and 20 in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The invitation was made by the organization, and Bendo accepted at once. The Arizona star, who often trains with world champion Augusto Tanquinho, will perform in the 77kg division.

Before the ADCC, Ben Henderson will face Anthony Pettis on August 31 to defend his belt.

Will Bendo pull both of these challenges off this semester?

Ben Henderson caiu diante da fera Jaime Soares Canuto (GFTeam), por 8 a 0. Foto: Erik Fontanez/ GracieMag

Campeão dos leves do UFC, Benson Henderson mostrou status de favorito nas primeiras lutas do Pan de Jiu-Jitsu de 2013, mas não teve o mesmo bom resultado contra seu terceiro adversário.

Competindo na faixa-marrom adulto, no peso médio, Bendo venceu Romulo Cavalcanti em sua estreia, e logo depois emplacou um resultado de 5 a 2 sobre Pedro Alcantara. Mas o Pan chegou ao fim para ele ao encontrar Jaime Soares Canuto, o eventual campeão do peso. Ele foi eliminado por 8 a 0. Jaime pontuou ao raspar e montar (6 a 0), e ainda conseguiu mais dois pontos quase no finalzinho.

Ben não se afligiu com a má sorte.

“É, está tudo bem. Eu amo competir e me divertir”, disse Henderson ao repórter Erik Fontanez, de GracieMag, que acompanhou suas lutas na Univeridade da Califórnia, no Bren Events Center em Irvine.

“Bem, só na última luta que não me diverti tanto”, brincou.

Ben Henderson deu um tempo no MMA para participar desta competição da IBJJF. O peso leve enfrenta o perigoso Gilbert Melendez em um mês, no dia 20 de abril, quando bota seu cinturão em jogo no UFC on Fox 7. Para o campeão, esta é uma forma de relaxar, e ainda afiar seu Jiu-Jitsu para o craque Melendez.

Seu treinador, John Crouch, afirmou que apesar desta quebra no ciclo dos treinos, Ben não tem tempo livre. “No sábado, fizemos seis rounds de sparring duro”, disse Crouch, reiterando que o Pan é uma diversão para Bendo.

O lutador falou também sobre as críticas que recebeu por participar de torneios de Jiu-Jitsu a menos de quatro semanas da sua defesa de título no UFC. Para muitos, Henderson poderia se lesionar e colocar em risco a luta contra o ex-campeão do Strikeforce.

“As pessoas são críticas por qualquer coisa. O fato é que eu competi, terminei o torneio e posso até dançar agora. Não me machuquei”, afirmou a fera.

Após o bate-papo, Bendo mostrou que a arte suave já é uma paixão e garantiu: vai estar em Long Beach para lutar o Campeonato Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu, no fim de maio.

No MMA, se Henderson passar por Melendez em abril, deve enfrentar o vencedor da disputa de cinturão dos pesos-penas entre José Aldo e Anthony Pettis, que rola a 3 de agosto, no Rio de Janeiro.

Pelo jeito, a agenda do campeão dos leves do UFC está bem cheia, com ou sem kimono.

Para saber quem brilhou na faixa-marrom do Pan 2013, dominada pelo absoluto Keenan Cornelius, os manos Miyao e outros, clique aqui.

Photo used courtesy of Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Benson Henderson doesn’t care how he wins when he defends his UFC lightweight title against Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 5 next week. The champ just wants to walk away with his hands raised.

Like late Oakland Raider owner Al Davis used to say, “Just win, baby.”

“As far as me facing Nate [Diaz] and how I gotta win, I’m just trying to get a W,” Henderson said on a recent media conference call. “I’m trying to get my hand raised however I can get it. If he slips on a banana peel, I’ll take it. If it’s a decisive victory, I’ll take it.”

Even the close victories are ones that Henderson will accept. His last two fights were razor-close decisions against Frankie Edgar — the second being closer than the first, according to “Bendo.” In those fights, it didn’t matter that he didn’t finish Edgar with a knockout or submission. Of course, he’d enjoy finishing his opponents, but that’s not easy to come by in today’s UFC, he said.

Fighting the MMA world’s elite just isn’t that easy.

“Getting a W is not easy to come by in the UFC, going against the best guys on the planet,” Henderson said. “I’ll take [the win] any way I can get it. That being said, I think all the fighters … fight to end fights, to be as decisive as possible. But sometimes, when you’re fighting the best guys on the planet, you can’t make it as easy as that.”

And if you think finishing a guy like Diaz is easy, think again. Henderson admits his opponent is tough — “darn tough,” he said. In fact, Bendo doesn’t want to be offensive and assume that he’d walk into Seattle’s Key Arena and easily knock Diaz out.

He wouldn’t think of saying such a preposterous thing.

“It’d be kind of offensive if I just said ‘I’m going to go in there and knock out Nate Diaz,'” he said. “No, I’m not going to say that.”

Much like he did against Edgar, Henderson will walk into the octagon and headline a fight card with high hopes. Will he get the knockout? Maybe. Will he get the submission? Hard to do against a Cesar Gracie-trained fighter, but don’t count anything out.

Ultimately, it goes back to the idea that getting the win however he can get it is the best way to go. If he ends up in the win column with his second consecutive successful title defense, that’s all that matters in the long rung.

“I’m going to go out there and do my best and try to get my hand raised any way possible,” he said.

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