Ben Henderson: If Anthony Pettis isn't defending his title, give the best to me

[markg171]

The way Henderson looks at it is if Pettis is injured and unable to prove he's the best in the world, and he's out there beating every other contender, then he's still the top dog in the division with or without the title.

"You know me, man, I don't like to talk crap, I respect everybody," Henderson told the Great MMA Debate podcast when asked about Pettis' absence from the division. "It doesn't matter to me, I'm going to do what I do, I'm going to stay in the Octagon fighting, but you want to bring it up, you want to say it, they know what it is. Just look at the dates, look at the times, look at the fights. Look who's fighting, look who's winning, look at it. You decide yourself, I'm just going to keep going out and doing my job."

"You can not fight for two years and still have the belt -- what does it mean? What does it mean if you have the belt for five years and you defend it one time? What does that really mean? It's not about talk, it's not about saying this guy's the best, that guy's the best, and people's opinions and rankings. It's about what happens inside the Octagon. Who goes out there and puts it down. I'm always going to be doing that," Henderson said.

"Title or not, whether I have the championship belt or I don't, if you have the championship what does that mean? It means you're fighting the best people. If the belt's not being defended and you're not fighting the top people, give those top people to me. I'll take it. I'll do the job without the belt."

"My point of view, even without the belt, I was always about winning, getting your hand raised. I want to fight the best people. As the belt holder, the positive thing about being the belt holder is you get a higher pay, you're known as the champ, but what really matters is you're fighting the best people. I want to fight the best people. I want to be the best fighter on the planet," Henderson said.

"To do that I have to fight the best. If I'm going to fight three times a year and the belt holder's not going to fight three times a year, I want to fight all the best people. So while he can take as long a break as he wants, give all those best people to me still. So I'm still fighting the best people."

http://msn.foxsports.com/ufc/story/benson-henderson-if-anthony-pettis-isn-t-defending-his-title-give-the-best-to-me-060414?cmpid=tsmtw:fscom:ufconfox

 

[vyronturner]

inb4 the haters

 

[joeyjoejoe]

Keep it real Bendo, everyone likes an active fighter.

 

[efalk1322]

benson has gotten more gift decision than any other fighter in the history of the sport and has the balls to talk shit about pettis?? he's so butt hurt pettis beat him twice.

 

[VPofAtheism]

Yeah he is all about winning, getting the hand raised, and why nobody ever cared for you as a fighter. He has so much potential to be a killer. He needs to drop the whole God act and start murdering people.

 

[Degen Gambler]

If he can beat Khabilov and either Dos anjos or Khabib after that he will have cleaned out most of the division.

 

[Zarathustra]

He should start by actually legit winning some fights for a change.

 

[forskarn]

Which people did he wanna fight again??

 

[Panky Rang]

benson has gotten more gift decision than any other fighter in the history of the sport and has the balls to talk shit about pettis?? he's so butt hurt pettis beat him twice.

edgar and leonard garcia are up there

 

[ARONAbeetFEDOR]

"I'll split decision them all!"

 

[Junior Cigano**]

It would be pretty funny if he fights and beats Khabilov and Khabib. They are 2 of the best grapplers at 155 and I think both of them would give Pettis his toughest fights.

 

[pointfighter]

But why do you fight with a toothpick in your mouth?

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

He actually does raise some legitimate points.

Yes, he's won a number of decisions I thought he lost. But the fact is, he's out there, fighting the best in the world all the time, and competing with them.

 

[K1HerosNakamura]

benson has gotten more gift decision than any other fighter in the history of the sport and has the balls to talk shit about pettis?? he's so butt hurt pettis beat him twice.

He's more talking shit about inactive champs than Pettis in particular. The trend seems to be get the belt, get injured, and take your sweet time recovering, cause well, you're the champ, why not.

 

[FactsAndTruth]

I think he's gotten gift decisions a couple times but nothing wrong with what he said

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

But why do you fight with a toothpick in your mouth?

Once they took his toothpick, it was only a matter of time before he lost the belt.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Lol at Henderson, "I don't like to talk trash" proceeds to talk trash.

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

Lol at Henderson, "I don't like to talk trash" proceeds to talk trash.

That wasn't exactly trash talk.

 

[5H3RD0G]

You don't have to have a belt to be a champion. That's what fans want to see, if a guy is in your division bring it on. This is not a cheerleader competition, your suppose to get slammed and punched if you so desire. Bendo is taking on the ever tough challenge of Khabilov and if he get's the win bring on Khabib. :icon_chee

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

He actually does raise some legitimate points.

Yes, he's won a number of decisions I thought he lost. But the fact is, he's out there, fighting the best in the world all the time, and competing with them.

Can you really get angry at a guy for getting injured though? Seems stupid to me, I'm sure Pettis would rather not get injured often.