Video: Bendo vs. Cerrone 2

Consider yourself on notice: Book a babysitter, call your buddies, mark on your calendar – you do not want to miss this fight. The first time Ben Henderson met Donald Cerrone at WEC 43 it was the fight of the year. Hands down, no contest. Here’s what I wrote at the time back in October:

Last night’s WEC interim lightweight title bout may not have been the most technical display of mixed martial artistry but it was easily the most-exciting back-and-forth, end-any-second, go-either-way battle not featuring Clay Guida this year. Definitely a Fight of the Year candidate.

Henderson, a 3-1 underdog, survived multiple submission attempts – guillotines, triangles, D’arce chokes, armbars, omo platas, kimuras, the kitchen sink – to earn the five-round unanimous decision victory over Donald Cerrone.

“Survived” is the operative word as Henderson appeared on the verge of being choked out or having his arm separated from his shoulder on several occasions – at one point he spent an uncomfortable, mesmerizing minute locked into a deep arm-triangle choke that had me holding my breath, while a fifth-round kimura mangled his arm into such a horrifying position that there was an audible gasp from the audience when he was able to give the ref the thumbs up before escaping and popping to his feet as fresh as a daisy.

I’m sure Henderson – henceforth and forever to be known as Bendo – requires no oxygen and that when he went to the hospital after the fight for x-rays they came back negative because he has no bones.