With UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis out with a knee injury, his proposed title defense against Josh Thomson is off. Thomson will now face former UFC titlist Benson Henderson on the UFC on FOX 10 card scheduled for January 25th. Thomson had earned the fast-track title shot with an impressive TKO win over Nate Diaz last April, and the long time Strikeforce veteran has been fighting at the sport’s highest level for a long time. For Henderson, this is his return match since dropping the belt to Pettis. Hopefully, this means that the UFC will also be announcing a bout between Gilbert Melendez and TJ Grant, who are the other two top dogs in the Lightweight division at this time. The winners of these two bouts could meet to decide who gets Pettis upon his return, or if Pettis is out for an extended time, the match would be worthy of an interim belt. But, getting back to Henderson vs Thomson. This is going to be a very hard match to make a line on. Henderson was not given an immediate title rematch despite defending the belt prior on several occasions, mainly because he looked so flat and uninspired in losing the belt to Pettis. Henderson himself did not demand a rematch afterwards, seeming rather pensive. Since then, Henderson went to China to compete in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club’s Submission Fighting World Championships. He did not win the tourney, but he wasn’t expected to and it was good to see him branching out and competing at a high level. It will be best for Henderson if he finds his killer instinct for this fight against Thomson. Thomson has been fighting at a high level for a long time, and he has to feel like this is his time, his chance. In taking out and stopping Nate Diaz in his last outing, he succeeded in doing something that had never been done before. That got a lot of attention, and earned him a title shot. With that title fight now gone, Thomson is mentally seasoned enough and should not lose focus. Benson Henderson is likely to face the best version of Josh Thomson ever, and that is a tall order for Henderson.
