Ben Henderson is looking forward to the biggest test of his career.
Former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson will step into the octagon tonight in Milwaukee to try and be the man who stops Jim Miller’s seven-fight win streak. He knows it won’t be an easy task, but “Smooth” is excited for the opportunity.
“The goal is to go get my hand raised. There isn’t too much more than that. Every fight there is more on the line. There are bigger dividends when you win and bigger drops if you lose. You can’t let those things affect you. It’s just another fight. And whether it’s your first fight in the WEC for a title or the first time on the main card, it’s just a fight.
“You have to go out there and you have to perform. You have to get your hand raised. If you have the title and lose then you work to get it back. If you are ranked number 20 and lose…you might get cut. You have to get your hand raised no matter what is on the line.”
Henderson will bring his own momentum into Milwaukee. He has earned back to back wins, and a victory over Miller could place him in the upper tier of what is arguably the UFC’s most competitive division.
“I don’t really know where it puts me. It’s not really my place to make those decisions. My job is to fight and I’ll leave that up to Dana White, Joe Silva and Sean Shelby. It’s their job to decide who’s this and who’s that. I do know that Dana White has gone on record to say that Jim Miller will get a title shot if he happens to get past me on Sunday. I think that’s great for Jim but as far as where I’m at in the picture…it doesn’t really matter to me.”
In a recent interview, Miller addressed Henderson’s ability to get out of submissions that would finish most fighters. The New Jersey native commented that while Henderson is someone who finds himself in bad positions, Miller is the type of fighter who doesn’t let people out of tough spots.
“Every fighter should think that they will have to go 15 minutes hard paced, 120 mph. I’m glad that Jim thinks that he’s ready to go the distance with me but going 15 minutes or 120 mph with me is different than going with anybody else.
“There is a quote by Ayn Rand that goes ‘the question isn’t who is going to let me. It’s who is going to stop me?’ As far as Jim Miller not letting people out of submissions, I’m not going to ask him to let me out. “Hey Jim can you let me out of this guillotine?” I’m not going to ask because it’s going to be me getting out and forcing the action. Miller should intend to finish the fight and my intentions will be to get my hand raised.”