Long-time mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran, Jorge Masvidal, looks to take out former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight kingpin, Benson Henderson, at 170 pounds this Saturday (Nov. 28, 2015) at UFC Fight Night 79 inside Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea.

Masvidal found great success in his 155-pound run in UFC, winning five of his fights against a couple controversial decisions losses. However, he was disappointed in the lack of the opportunities he received, which -- along with the harsh weight cut -- led him to jump ship up to Welterweight.

Lo and behold, thanks to an injury to Thiago Alves, Masvidal finds himself set to square off with Benson Henderson, one of the men Masvidal repeatedly angled for a fight with back at Lightweight. Now that his wish has been granted, can Masvidal earn the victory and take a big step toward becoming a contender in his new division?

Let's take a closer look at the American Top Team representative's skill set and find out.

Striking

Masvidal is one of my personal favorite fighters to watch compete. And a large part of that is thanks to his complete comfort wherever the fight goes. However, "Gamebred" often prefers to strike with his foes, as his offensive combination of sharp boxing and dangerous kicks makes for a very tough challenge for most.

Speaking of style, an interesting thing to note about the Orthodox fighter is that he's always adjusting his strategy and style based on the opponent. In some bouts, Masvidal is looking to close the distance with heavy punches and punish his opponents, such as in his bouts with James Krause and Daron Cruickshank. In other fights -- most notably the scrap with Al Iaquinta -- he has instead showcased his impressive distance striking, controlling his opponent's movements and reactions largely with his lead hand.

Regardless of his chosen strategy, Masvidal's deep understanding of distance is fundamental to his game. Masvidal stands tall, a trait that carries with it some defensive risks. However, Masvidal nonetheless manages to be very slick defensively. The "Gamebred" fighter slides and slips just out of the way of punches thanks to his excellent range control, which is what allows him to rely on reaction time to defend himself.

Masvidal's use of the jab -- and his lead hand overall -- is excellent. He primarily relies on the strike when looking to control range, which was more than obvious in his bout with Iaquinta. As "Raging Al" aptly demonstrated, it's very difficult to close the distance on a fighter who's circling well and snapping the head back each time he pumps a jab.

As that fight wore on, Masvidal opened up with his lead hand. Over and over, Masvidal snuck a left hook inside his opponent's overhand, repeatedly countering Iaquinta while the New Yorker came up just short with his own punches.

On the whole, Masvidal mixes up his punches well-enough to remain unpredictable, choosing the right punch for the distance more often than not. For example, as Masvidal traps his opponent against the fence, he'll mix together uppercuts, hooks and his favorite right hook in violent fashion.

Another notable part of Masvidal's game -- which extends to his kickboxing as well -- is his dedication to working the body. Once his opponent is covering up to avoid his punches, Masvidal is quick to duck down and rip into his foe's mid-section. Notably, Masvidal stunned James Krause with a switch kick to the liver and cross to the body, and he repeatedly ripped into Micheal Chiesa's mid-section with a left hook, which really helped him turn the tide in that fight.

It's often overshadowed by his pugilistic talent, but Masvidal is actually very dangerous with his kicks and knees. The switch left kick to the body is undoubtedly one of his favorite techniques, as Masvidal looks for it often. In addition, Masvidal loves to step directly into a knee, aiming to suddenly close the distance and take his opponent's head off (GIF).

The area where Masvidal truly excels is his ability to counter head movement with kicks. When faced with an opponent looking to bob and weave through Masvidal's combinations, "Gamebred" has a simple solution. It's very unnerving for fighters to freely move their head while kicks or knees are flying through the air, so Masvidal will begin looking to time his opponent's head movement with his own kicks.

This can potentially work to Masvidal's advantage in two ways. Back in Strikeforce, a well-timed head kick allowed Masvidal to drop the brick-chinned K.J. Noons hard, as the boxer ducked directly into the kick (GIF). In addition, He knocked out Yves Edwards in similar fashion.

Alternatively, the threat of the kick can limit his opponent's head movement. This has become a larger strategy for Masvidal recently, as he's mixed up his diversity of kicks. By firing off sudden and unexpected kicks like wheel kicks and lead leg hook kicks, Masvidal makes head movement awkward for his opponent.

Looking back at Masvidal's fight with Iaquinta once again, the boxer showed off both techniques in one sequence. First, he used a wheel kick to throw off his opponent's defense, then he stepped in with his hardest combination yet in the fight (GIF). When Iaquinta recovered and stood back up, Masvidal next used a step knee to discourage head movement, which he then followed up with a powerful right hook that sent Iaquinta to his knees (GIF).

The final area in which Masvidal really excels on his feet is in the clinch. For example, Masvidal did a very nice job repelling Rustam Khabilov's aggression with hard knees to the body after the Dagestani fighter momentarily forced him into the fence.

For a more devastating -- and more common -- example of Masvidal's clinch work, look at his most recent victory. Dealing with Cezar Ferreira aggression in the clinch, Masvidal clocked him with a hard elbow and followed up with a brutal right hand on the break (GIF). Similarly, Masvidal clocked Krause with a cross and left hook at the end of a clinch exchange, sending Krause flat to his back.

Now, for all of the technique and finesse in Masvidal's stand up game, he can also be an incredible frustrating fighter to watch. At times, Masvidal is far too content with his low level of activity. While Masvidal makes a show of easily slipping and blocking strikes -- a show I admittedly am often impressed by -- his opponent is the one doing all the throwing. His foe may not be landing cleanly, but the judges love ineffective activity more than the occasional precise combination.

It's a problem that plagued Lyoto Machida's run at Light Heavyweight -- he allowed fights with men like Phil Davis, Quinton Jackson and Dan Henderson to be far closer than necessary. Machida upped his aggression and volume after switching his weight class -- win or lose, there has been little controversy as of late for "The Dragon" -- and that's an adjustment Masvidal needs to make as well.

Hopefully, he'll feel comfortable throwing more without the toll of the weight cut on his mind.

Wrestling

Masvidal is one of the most peculiar wrestlers in the sport. He stands up very tall and does not have a high-level wrestling background, yet he's incredibly difficult to take or hold down and transitions into his own shots extremely well.

Offensively, Masvidal starts with his high crotch single-leg takedown more often than not. From the high crotch position, Masvidal will look to finish the dump, but more often than not he transitions into another takedown as his opponent defends.

The best recent fight to watch to see this aspect of Masvidal's game would be his decision victory over Tim Means. From the high crotch, Masvidal continually transitioned into other takedowns and tossed his opponent to the floor. Most of the time, Masvidal would attempt the dump to off-balance "Dirty Bird" and then drive back in with either a double leg or knee pick. Alternatively, Masvidal would circle all the way around his opponent from the high crotch into the back clinch and then work from there.

While that covers a majority of Masvidal's takedown attempts, his clinch prowess should also be mentioned. It's not an area Masvidal looks to often, but he's immensely difficult to wrestle with inside the clinch. Even Khabilov, who's a clinch specialist, found himself on his back courtesy of an inside trip from "Gamebred."

As mentioned, Masvidal's wrestling defense is incredible. Despite his tall stance, Masvidal's hips are very difficult to penetrate, meaning opponents are rarely able to secure deep single legs. Even when they do, Masvidal is an expert in that position and is very difficult to dump to the mat.

It's a bit more common, though still rather difficult, for Masvidal to be powered to the mat with a double leg. However, this is where Masvidal's excellent scrambling ability really comes into play, as he rarely spends more than a few seconds on the mat in bad position.

While Masvidal does everything correct in scrambles -- such as keeping his head high, controlling his opponent's head position, and never allowing his foe to settle -- his comfort and confidence in every position really gives Masvidal an advantage.

As Masvidal trades positions with his opponent, he's often shifting through positions on the ground, in the clinch, and against the cage so rapidly that it quickly becomes a game of transitions. That's an area Masvidal truly excels in, and he's confident that if he keeps going to the scramble, his combination of sneaky strikes, submissions, and wrestling reversals will be enough to overwhelm his opponent and put him in great position or at least return him to the stand up.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Though it's the least seen aspect of his game, Masvidal has proven to be a quality grappler as well. It would do him well to be more aggressive in this area as well, as he's been nothing but successful with his jiu-jitsu inside the Octagon.

For the most part, Masvidal's jiu-jitsu only makes itself known when his opponent is trying to take him down. Recently, he's been fishing for front chokes far more often, as they can be used to submit, sweep, and cause scrambles. For example, Masvidal used the guillotine to reverse Krause and Chiesa in the midst of defending his opponent's takedown.

Against Chiesa, Masvidal eventually locked up the second submission victory of his career. From the front headlock, Masvidal threaded his outside arm around Chiesa's arm and neck. From there, he rolled Chiesa onto his side using a technique called the bolt cutter, though he used a variation of the grip. This allowed him to sink the arm even deeper and lock it down in a rear naked choke grip.

Cutting off both sides of his opponent's neck, Masvidal had secured the d'arce choke and squeezed until the tap inevitably came (GIF).

Conclusion

Saturday's main event is a collision of two exceptionally well-rounded and talented fighters. More than that, it's a battle of two men who are imperturbable, as Masvidal's complete -- some would say arrogant -- composure will be tested against "Smooth" Ben Henderson's legendary poise. In a fight between one man who laughs off punches and another who adjusts his hair while under threat of submission, which fighter will reign supreme?

Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, is an undefeated amateur fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport's most elite fighters.