Ben Henderson vs. Patricky Freire headlines Bellator 183 on September 23, 2017 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Stats

Record: Benson Henderson 24-7 | Patricky Freire 17-8

Odds: Benson Henderson -220 | Patricky Freire +180

History / Introduction to both fighters

David: Bendo led a highly successful Zuffa career, for which the power of Christ has always compelled him. Like an upgraded Kenny Florian with worse tattoos, he managed to snag a UFC title, and even defend it a couple of times against the best of the best. Despite a successful welterweight stretch in the UFC, Dana White let Henderson land in Bellator, where he debuted to an upset loss. His welterweight foray didn’t prepare him that well in retrospect (Thatch was never all that, and Masvidal was one of the rare good matchups for him), and so after losing to Koreshkov, he’s back at 155 - this time against the other Pitbull. Or rather the other Freire, I should say.

Phil: I'm a big fan of Bendo, ever since his early WEC days when he was an aggressive, mauling GNP fighter who'd be bouncing around with puppydog Christian enthusiasm. In the time since, he's become one of those world warrior types who's willing to travel anywhere and take any fight. In the old days, that path used to go from other orgs to Zuffa. I suspect that it will be increasingly common that we see it going the other way around, as it has with Henderson.

David: Patricky has been a staple in Bellator since 2011. Like a Brazilian adobe stock version of Kenny Florian, he has predictably threatened for the title at various points, but more often than not losing to elite competition. He’s coming off an impressive knockout win over Josh Thomson, himself taking time off from his busy gay marriage discussing schedule. It’s a quality fight for both men, who share the same hyperspace despite having different hardware.

Phil: Patricky is the Chinzo to Patricio's Lyoto: the less classy, technical and efficient brother who nonetheless can land a hell of a flying knee KO when the mood strikes him. I'm glad to see him still here, getting booked in marquee fights and picking up quality wins. Back when he went on that Woodard-Alvarez-Anderson loss streak I was somewhat worried that we were looking at the end of the line. Thankfully, he turned it around, and while losing to Chandler probably cements his ceiling, he always guarantees a fun fight.

What’s at stake?

David: A lot (?) for Bellator. Signing Henderson was considered a modest “power play”. While it reflects well on Bellator’s stable of fighters whenever a high profile UFC fighters come in and loses, Bellator is not signing these guys to lose. They’re signing them for their profile, and name. Another loss wouldn’t endanger Henderson’s status with Bellator, but going 1-3 would look like a sunk cost.

Phil: Bellator has a few balls in the air that they can't really afford to drop. Henderson is one of them, Pico another, and MVP is a third. While they're happy to put out the most faded, dilapidated shells of former greats to wheeze and club each other, they have to be thinking that they booked Henderson because he was supposed to win. He's also publicly discussed retiring and joining the army. Have to think he'd be less likely to do that if he could challenge Chandler for the belt again.

Where do they want it?

David: Henderson was never really a high octane fighter, but he certainly found himself involved in a lot of high octane fights. Benson relies a lot on reactionary offense - finding openings, through scrambles or strikes on a reset. He doesn’t have a dangerous arsenal of attacks. His jab is good, but not punctual. His kicks are strong, but not concentrated. His grappling is excellent, but slow to activate. You once described Henderson as a fighter with the ability to “control perceptions of the fight”, and that’s how I think of ol’ Ben. Like the checker shadow illusion, his offense casts a broad shadow, chambering offense that is more active than afflicting. One of the best ways to establish distance and range is to establish a jab. The fact that Henderson knows how to throw an effective one, but never really chambers it consistently helps explain why he can generate effective offense at distance, but still finds himself in danger. Looking back at old and recent losses, opponents tend to close the gap on him pretty violently, with flying knees (Koreshkov), punches (Chandler and Cerrone), and whatever we officially called Anthony Pettis’ seven bikes in a steel cage ball kick. I chalk it up to psychology; opponents never feel in real danger, and thus don’t feel as vulnerable for strike entries. It works both ways, of course, which is why Henderson is still a really good fighter.

Phil: Bendo is basically what happens when you combine intelligence, instincts and athleticism, but don't bind them to any kind of rigorous technical framework. Every piece in his game makes sense in his game: it has a purpose, it leads to other things, it can be mixed up with other pieces, but little of it is technically perfect. There's that aforementioned janky, turned-over jab, the stomp kick, and the hook and lead uppercut series' he's so fond of. "You'd never teach someone to strike that way" as Rogan loves to say, and to be sure it has some significant technical flaws, but those who have expected that those flaws can be figured out in real time have often found themselves puzzled to find themselves being led down the garden path of frustrating guessing games between leaping body hooks, the body kick, and the takedown. Bendo's top control and clinch games are probably his most solid areas, with a pretty brutal collar tie and vicious, stacked ground and pound. As with his standup, though, Henderson leans a bit on being off-kilter and landing odd strikes to throw people off. His biggest problems have always been with people who just blast straight through his weirdness. Is that Patricky?

David: Unlike his brother Patricio, Patricky is just a smidge more violent. Patricky is similar to Robbie Lawler in philosophy - starting slow to process his opponent’s moves to make the knockout that much easier when it comes. His punching power is just plain hammers on a cantaloupe. He has excellent speed, and loves to chamber that classic right hand, left hook two piece and a biscuit (yes, biscuits Phil, not scones). He’s a strong offensive fighter for his varied offense, but he has more in common with classical boxing at range. Like a lot of fighters with good hands, they maintain a strong posture, allowing for quicker resets, potential counters, and a stance that’s harder to penetrate with rudimentary takedowns.

Phil: Why would anyone eat fried chicken with a scone? I can understand waffles. Scones are for jam though. Patricky is interesting in that while his brother became more of a technical pressure boxer over time, the Pitbull the Elder has actually become a lot more of a counter puncher. It makes sense for his style. He has a ton of power, but he's not particularly defensively sound in a void, and he's never had incredible cardio, so it forces his opponents to come to him to navigate his excellent natural timing. There isn't a whole lot to his game, really, but that doesn't mean that it isn't scary. His shot selection has improved out of sight in recent years, and like his brother he's willing to open people up with leg kicks if they try to out-wait him.

Insight from Past Fights

David: Going back to what I said about the jab, Patrick has trouble with distance precisely because his jab is an afterthought. Derek Anderson cruised to a decision win with a jab over Pitbull. Eddie Alvarez nearly knocked his block off before officially knocking his block off because he was using ill-distanced leg kicks. As a result, not only is Patricky hittable, but he’s containable. He also doesn’t cut off the cage the way he needs to against Henderson, so the fight is kind of a toss up in the context of the range conflict.

Phil: I'm not sure that counterpunching is really the way to beat Bendo. The people who have been successful are those who are... single-minded. RDA, Koreshkov, Chandler. I'm not saying these guys are stupid fighters, many of them are extremely smart, but they tended to just ignore the weird stuff that he was doing and bully him with fundamental Muay Thai or wrestling. That said, though, Patricio was doing extraordinarily well against Bendo by attacking his lead leg and countering. That did also end up getting his shin broken though, and he is the more skillful of the two brothers, so the gameplan is not without flaws.

X-Factors

David: I think there are reasonable questions about Henderson’s status at this point in his career. He’s not punch drunk or anything. And his athleticism is still as slick as ever. But he keeps retreating into his reset cocoon, like a fight version of William Hurt on too many ‘shrooms and time spent in Joe Rogan’s favorite isolation tank.

Phil: Henderson has apparently rehabbed a busted knee that he was nursing throughout his other Bellator fights. Any potential improvement there has to be balanced against his potential disenchantment with the sport at the moment.

Prognostication

David: Patricky has always been a step behind the elite, and I consider Henderson a part of that class, no matter how much he has withered since then. Thing is, Henderson gets caught a lot, and age won’t be kind to his body in this respect. If Patricky can stay upright long enough (he can wrestle just fine too, though I don’t think Henderson has ever had the best grappling entries), I see him catching him. It’s just as likely that Henderson catches Patricky too, I realize but I suspect Freire will be quicker to snap Bendo’s range charade. I’ll go off script and say Patricky Freire by KO, round 3.

Phil: I think the Pitbull brothers might have a bit of a read on Bendo... but I'm not sure if it's enough of one. Bendo's chin has always been phenomenal, as has his cardio, and he's always been good at finding the right selection of weird tools over a fight for a given opponent. Patricky might be able to put a scare into him, but I'm just not sure he has the necessary depth. Benson Henderson by submission, round 3.