Benson Henderson defeates Nathan Diaz

Benson Henderson delivered a dynamic performance against Nathan Diaz this past Saturday night. The criticism towards Henderson was how close his fights with Edgar were and the feeling that the decisions were controversial. Nothing was controversial in his fight with Diaz.

The closest round of the contest was the opening stanza, which had Diaz landing some good strikes in the clinch. That didn’t last long as Henderson took the fight to the ground and landed big strikes. Throughout the fight, Henderson beat Diaz badly, even scoring knockdowns on Diaz with precise punches. When they were on their feet, Henderson landed brutal kicks and when they were on the ground, stiff ground and pound. There was one moment where Diaz tried to lock in a knee bar and a toe hold, but he just didn’t really get that going. It was a spectacular one-sided performance from Henderson, winning all the rounds and it’s insane (and super dangerous) that he performed with a toothpick in his mouth. It was nice that Diaz raised Henderson’s hand at the end.

For Henderson, it’s probably going to be the winner of Pettis vs Cerrone (either a rematch with Pettis to get revenge or a third showdown with the Cowboy). Or it could also be Strikeforce titlist Gilbert Melendez, which would be a dynamite fight. This was, by far, the best performance out of Henderson’s young career.