Bendo ‘surprised’ that “Cowboy” gets so many short-notice fights

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson will make his welterweight debut on short-notice at next weekend’s UFC Fight Night 60 event in Broomfield, Colorado.

“Bendo” will headline the event opposite rising welterweight star Brandon Thatch.

Henderson recently sat down with Duane Finley of Bleacher Report where he talked about finally getting a short-notice fight, something he’s asked for in the past:

“I’ve asked the UFC plenty of times over the past few years for anything I could get short notice, and I was always surprised how “Cowboy” gets these fights. I’ve asked time and time again when there was a situation available. I would see someone get hurt then hit up Dana [White] and Joe Silva to let them know I’m willing to take the fight, and the answer was always no.”

Henderson actually came in on short-notice to fight the aforementioned Cerrone at ‘UFC Fight Night 59’ last month. Later in the interview, “Bendo” would kind of answer his own question about why he might not have been selected as often for the late-replacement spots:

“I was already bugging Joe about me taking a short notice fight. I told him 155 would be hard for me to make on short notice. Physically I could do it, but I wouldn’t perform well making that weight on one or two weeks’ notice. But if you have a short notice fight for me at 170, I’m all for it. We’ve been thinking about dabbling at 170 for awhile and seeing how it works out for us, and it just so happened that they needed it. Joe Silva text me last Saturday a few fights before Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz fight, and he wanted to know how serious I was about taking a short notice fight at 170. I told him I’ll take whatever he was offering.

“I’m not one of those guys who just talks the talk,” he added. “I actually back it up. Joe offered up Denver, Colorado, against Brandon Thatch in a main event. I said, ‘Cool. Let’s do it.'”

Benson Henderson will be looking to snap the first two-fight losing streak of his career when he battles Thatch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 60. The event goes down February 14 live from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

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