This coming August 23rd in Tulsa, Oklahoma the UFC delivers their second show of the day with an event headlined by a Lightweight bout between Benson Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos. Right now at the books, Henderson, whom many consider the number one contender in the Lightweight division, is favored at (-300) with the comeback on Dos Anjos (+220).
Dos Anjos needs to win to regain momentum. He won his last fight, over Jason High, but prior to that dropped a step up fight against highly regarded Khabib Numagomedov. That loss snapped the momentum of a five fight winning streak that included a win over Donald Cerrone, so he can ill afford to get into a win one, lose one situation of alternating wins and losses if he wants to keep momentum.
For Henderson, he is getting a tough deal from the UFC. He is a former Lightweight Champion, and what is more, in a crowded division he made several title defenses of the belt before losing the belt. Right after losing the belt to Anthony Pettis, he did not get an instant re-match, in fact, he was told explicitly he would have to work for it. And that is what he has done.
He has kept his mouth shut and he has gone 2-0 since the title loss. He finished his last fight against Rustam Khabilov, a result that had escaped him in recent outings, so he is going to need a good showing in this fight to keep momentum.
That is where the UFC seems to have thrown Henderson another curve. Dos Anjos is a very resilient fighter who has gone the distance against top competition even in losses. Henderson is going to need to try and come after Dos Anjos and create some offense, but Dos Anjos can be very stingy when it comes to giving up a submission. He has been dropped and he has been stopped due to a jaw injury, but Henderson is not exactly the type of lethal striker that creates that type of damage.
The most likely result of the fight is bad for Henderson, in that he will likely win the fight, but he will be forced to be cautious and boring in order to do it.
