This past month, Ben Henderson got a taste of the UFC spotlight.
At the UFC's debut event on network television, he felt the electricity running through the crowd for a UFC on FOX 1 championship headliner between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
But despite fighting in the night's co-headliner, Henderson's own fight with Clay Guida played a distant second fiddle. However, that won't be the case at UFC 144.
Henderson recently joined MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com) to discuss the Feb. 25 pay-per-view event, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It marks the UFC's first trip to Japan in more than 11 years. And thanks to his championship headliner with lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (14-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC), all eyes will be on Henderson (15-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC).
The former WEC champ recently got a taste of the big-show spotlight with the FOX card in Anaheim, Calif., though it fell just a bit short.
"It was definitely a cool experience," Henderson said of UFC on FOX 1, where he defeated Clay Guida in the Facebook-streamed co-main event. "It was another historic experience. It was the first time the UFC was on FOX television on primetime. So it was a huge moment, very historic. It was an honor to be a part of it.
"Of course, I was a little bummed out I wasn't actually on FOX, but whatever. It happened. Not everything always goes your way. But the experience altogether? Another great event and another great card. Being there live watching it and getting the atmosphere is always a blast."
Despite the letdown of his untelevised championship qualifier, Henderson knows a thing or two about big crowds. He headlined the WEC's last-ever show a year ago this week, and in his official UFC debut back in April, he kicked off UFC 129's pay-per-view broadcast by beating Mark Bocek in front of 55,724 fans at Toronto's Rogers Centre. It was the UFC's first-ever stadium show.
Still, the size of a crowd and his billing on the fight card don't mean nearly as much as winning a title.
"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "It can be in the 7-Eleven where 10 people are watching or in front of 55,000 people in the Rogers Centre in Toronto. It just doesn't matter. I just want to have a good performance. I just want to win a belt.
"My chance happens to be in Japan. It happens to be at Saitama Arena. It's had a lot of historic moments, and this is just another one. I'm pretty stoked. I don't care where it is, though. I just want to fight the best fighter and get my hand raised again."
That's something that's happened often lately. Henderson is 13-1 over his past 14 fights, and the lone defeat came a year ago in that WEC 53 title loss to Anthony Pettis, who secured the victory with a stunning, off-the-cage jumping kick to the face. Henderson survived the highlight-reel blow but ultimately lost on the judges' scorecards.
But after defeating Bocek (who was 4-1 in his previous five fights), Jim Miller (who had won seven straight UFC fights) and Guida (who was on a four-fight win streak), he now faces lightweight kingpin Edgar.
In preparation for the bout, he has UFC featherweight champ Dominick Cruz, who's as quick and elusive as Edgar, coming into camp. He's also extending an invitation to Mark Hominick. And with his existing training partners and coaches at the MMA Lab in Arizona – who helped prepare Henderson for past wins over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner, Shane Roller and Anthony Njokuani – he expects a fully productive camp.
"Frankie does a [great] job of attacking even though he's elusive," Henderson said. "But when he rushes forward to attack, he rushes very well (with) an in-and-out attack. What we need to do against him – we'll come up with a game plan. The coaches are getting started looking at him, but I haven't looked at the tapes. ... When the time is right, my coaches will tell me what to do.
"Normally I don't like to really worry about what my opponents going to do and want to focus on what I'm going to do."
And for Henderson, that means claiming the UFC title.
At the UFC's debut event on network television, he felt the electricity running through the crowd for a UFC on FOX 1 championship headliner between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
But despite fighting in the night's co-headliner, Henderson's own fight with Clay Guida played a distant second fiddle. However, that won't be the case at UFC 144.
Henderson recently joined MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com) to discuss the Feb. 25 pay-per-view event, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It marks the UFC's first trip to Japan in more than 11 years. And thanks to his championship headliner with lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (14-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC), all eyes will be on Henderson (15-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC).
The former WEC champ recently got a taste of the big-show spotlight with the FOX card in Anaheim, Calif., though it fell just a bit short.
"It was definitely a cool experience," Henderson said of UFC on FOX 1, where he defeated Clay Guida in the Facebook-streamed co-main event. "It was another historic experience. It was the first time the UFC was on FOX television on primetime. So it was a huge moment, very historic. It was an honor to be a part of it.
"Of course, I was a little bummed out I wasn't actually on FOX, but whatever. It happened. Not everything always goes your way. But the experience altogether? Another great event and another great card. Being there live watching it and getting the atmosphere is always a blast."
Despite the letdown of his untelevised championship qualifier, Henderson knows a thing or two about big crowds. He headlined the WEC's last-ever show a year ago this week, and in his official UFC debut back in April, he kicked off UFC 129's pay-per-view broadcast by beating Mark Bocek in front of 55,724 fans at Toronto's Rogers Centre. It was the UFC's first-ever stadium show.
Still, the size of a crowd and his billing on the fight card don't mean nearly as much as winning a title.
"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "It can be in the 7-Eleven where 10 people are watching or in front of 55,000 people in the Rogers Centre in Toronto. It just doesn't matter. I just want to have a good performance. I just want to win a belt.
"My chance happens to be in Japan. It happens to be at Saitama Arena. It's had a lot of historic moments, and this is just another one. I'm pretty stoked. I don't care where it is, though. I just want to fight the best fighter and get my hand raised again."
That's something that's happened often lately. Henderson is 13-1 over his past 14 fights, and the lone defeat came a year ago in that WEC 53 title loss to Anthony Pettis, who secured the victory with a stunning, off-the-cage jumping kick to the face. Henderson survived the highlight-reel blow but ultimately lost on the judges' scorecards.
But after defeating Bocek (who was 4-1 in his previous five fights), Jim Miller (who had won seven straight UFC fights) and Guida (who was on a four-fight win streak), he now faces lightweight kingpin Edgar.
In preparation for the bout, he has UFC featherweight champ Dominick Cruz, who's as quick and elusive as Edgar, coming into camp. He's also extending an invitation to Mark Hominick. And with his existing training partners and coaches at the MMA Lab in Arizona – who helped prepare Henderson for past wins over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner, Shane Roller and Anthony Njokuani – he expects a fully productive camp.
"Frankie does a [great] job of attacking even though he's elusive," Henderson said. "But when he rushes forward to attack, he rushes very well (with) an in-and-out attack. What we need to do against him – we'll come up with a game plan. The coaches are getting started looking at him, but I haven't looked at the tapes. ... When the time is right, my coaches will tell me what to do.
"Normally I don't like to really worry about what my opponents going to do and want to focus on what I'm going to do."
And for Henderson, that means claiming the UFC title.