Gilbert has been fighting underwhelming competition over in Strikeforce for a while and his performances have mirrored that of his excitement level in regards to his match-ups. It's been apparent that Gil thinks he should have been in the UFC a long time ago and in my opinion, he lost his last bout.
Whether it is actually Gil not being as good as we thought when he looked merely decent against Masvidal, demonstrating paltry combinations (nothing but one-twos) and meandering through a fight where Jorge messed his face up despite not throwing many strikes, and in my eyes, losing a close decision to Josh Thompson, Gil better hope this lights a fire under his ass or it's going to be a long night against Benson.
A long while ago, Benson used to be an after thought, the guy who got more strife for asking if he could get an amen, not what he had done in the cage. Now, he's the undisputed UFC lightweight champion, coming off his most impressive win and second title defense. People always say fighters have improved when they win, but Benson is a much different fighter than he used to be and is consistently showing more facets of game and how to properly utilize them.
I think he bullies Gilbert around, utilizes his size and tires Gilbert out, slightly mixing in his ability to abuse range with his kicks. Gilbert is used to fighting slightly better than average guys while Benson has been fighting the best guys there is. I think he'll drop a decision to Benson. This has the potential to be a great fight if Gilbert fights up to his, but Benson is on a roll and is a much tougher match-up than anyone Gilbert has fought in a long time, if ever.
Gilbert's key here is to take advantage of Benson's striking defense liabilities and use his massive power to hurt Benson and take control of the fight. However, Benson is notorious for his recovery, so that might not be an option. For a lightweight, Gilbert does have cement in his fights, though.
