In his first UFC title fight against someone other than Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson showed the belt around his waist was no fluke.
Henderson came to the UFC with high expectations after the WEC merger in late 2010. He lost his WEC lightweight title to Anthony Pettis in the WEC finale, but quickly worked his way to title contention in the UFC.
At UFC 144, he upset Edgar in Japan to win the belt in early 2012. Six months later, he beat him again to retain the title. And a few months after that, Edgar ran into Diaz, who put himself in position for a title shot on the back of three straight wins and three straight post-fight bonuses.
But at Key Arena in Seattle in the UFC on FOX 5 headliner in late 2012, Diaz went up against a champ in Henderson who was locked into his game plan to keep the dangerous jiu-jitsu black belt in spots he’d be less threatening.
Henderson dominated Diaz for 25 minutes and swept the judges’ scorecards – including a super rare 50-43 card with a pair of 10-8 rounds. Henderson is the only fighter who to ever give Diaz 50-45 scorecards, let alone a 50-43. (Although Rafael dos Anjos and Rory MacDonald delivered Diaz 30-26 scorecards in three-round fights.)
Check out Henderson’s dominant main event win over Diaz from 2012 in the video above.
