Benson Henderson walked off into the sunset, undoubtedly content with all he had accomplished across nearly two decades of prizefighting.
The former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder retired from mixed martial arts with a 30-12 record and widely regarded as one of the greatest lightweights of all-time. Henderson competed for the final time on March 10, when he submitted to a rear-naked choke from reigning Bellator MMA lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov in the first round of their Bellator 292 main event. So ended a remarkable ride that had seen the MMA Lab cornerstone reach the highest of highs.
As Henderson settles into retirement, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him throughout his journey:
39: Years of age for Henderson, who was born on Nov. 16, 1983 in Colorado Springs. “The Big Chill” was the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office and Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 11 list at the time.
9: Henderson wins by submission, accounting for 30% of his career total (30). His methods of choice: five guillotine chokes and four rear-naked chokes. Henderson hold five other wins by knockout or technical knockout (17%) and 16 more by decision (53%).
18: Consecutive calendar years in which Henderson fought at least once. He went 1-0 in 2006, 3-1 in 2007, 3-0 in 2008, 3-0 in 2009, 2-1 in 2010, 3-0 in 2011, 3-0 in 2012, 1-1 in 2013, 2-1 in 2014, 2-1 in 2015, 1-2 in 2016, 0-1 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 0-2 in 2020, 0-1 in 2021, 2-0 in 2022 and 0-1 in 2023.
105: Rounds completed by Henderson as a professional mixed martial artist. He went the distance on 23 different occasions and carried a 16-7 record in those bouts.
97: Seconds needed for Henderson to dispatch Allen Williams with punches at a Victory Fighting Championship event in February 2007. It ranks as the fastest finish on his 42-fight ledger.
552: Days spent by Henderson as undisputed UFC lightweight champion. He laid claim to the title with a five-round unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 on Feb. 26, 2012, retained it in three subsequent appearances and then surrendered it in a first-round submission loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 on Aug. 31, 2013.
124: Significant strikes landed by Henderson in his unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner Nate Diaz in the UFC on Fox 5 main event. It was the highest total of his 14-fight run with the organization.
10: Straight victories for Henderson between June 23, 2007 and April 24, 2010—the longest such streak of his career.
6: Countries in which Henderson plied his mixed martial arts trade. In addition to his 22-12 mark in the United States, he went 3-0 in Canada, 2-0 in Ireland, 1-0 in Japan, 1-0 in South Korea and 1-0 in Hungary.
.717: Cumulative winning percentage between the 10 opponents—Nurmagomedov, Pettis (twice), Michael Chandler (twice), Brent Primus, Jason Jackson, Patricky Friere, Andrey Koreshkov, Donald Cerrone, Rafael dos Anjos and Rocky Johnson—who have beaten Henderson. They boast a combined record of 233-92.
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