A biography for Benson Hendersonhasn’t been written yet.
“Seeing the fight game and seeing the way things have worked out, a guy could be on a seven-fight, monstrous win streak and not get a title shot. There's no rhyme or reason to it.”
“Wrestling was you wrestle in college and you become a high school coach. That was it for wrestlers. We just started to realize there is a legitimate career choice we can choose to use all our wrestling skills we spent our entire lives learning. There is something we can do it now, it's MMA.”
“I just love pure, uncompromised competition. No ball, no net, no goalie, just one person versus one person, and you can do whatever you have to do to get your hand raised.”
“Being able just to worry about what it is I do best, going in there and beating somebody up, getting my hand raised - that's what I really like doing.”
“I didn't know that I would be the UFC champion. Did I intend on being the UFC champ? Yeah, absolutely. I didn't exactly see myself doing this as a full time job or career but I certainly intended for it when I started down this path.”
“Everybody I step in the cage against I have the utmost respect for.”
“I've never been one of those guys who is going to hold out and wait for a title shot.”
“Bellator is open to a fighters union - fighters binding together to see what's in our best interest. That's something you can't even breathe about elsewhere. I think it's a good thing for myself and other fighters to have that.”
“Like the way Anderson Silva does it - have a fight at 205 every once in a while and always make 185, his weight class.”
“Sometimes, you go out there and get knocked out in the first seven seconds. That might be one out of 10 times, but that is why we fight.”
“You can pick and choose how to portray yourself.”
“I think unions are a good thing, but sometimes, not to get too political, but unions can go the wrong way, but the idea of unions are good, they're smart, they're positive for the average American in the workforce.”
“If you want the belt, you've got to fight everybody that lines up in front of you. You have to prove yourself by beating them anyways, so what does it matter if you beat them before you have the belt or after you have the belt?”
“All fighters are pretty confident by nature, that's just how we are.”
“It's a very slippery slope when you have a world champion boxer fighting an MMA guy for the sake of money, and he can't knock him out in the first round. He has to make sure he carries him a little bit.”
“I don't always do a whole lot.”
“We're fighters. Stop worrying about showing up in a fur coat. Get out of here with that.”
“Before, early in my career, it was always just go out there and beat the next guy up. Whoever they put in front of me,just go beat him up. Everything else would take care of itself. You want more money? Go beat the next guy up, it will take care of itself. You want better sponsors? Go beat the next guy, it will take care of itself.”
“There's a difference between being over something and learning to deal with it.”
“I love to talk to kids and be a positive influence. It's good to hear about positive things and someone say 'do the right things' from someone other than their grandma or their mom.”