However, Henderson knows that the lightweight division is not a permanent fixture for him, especially considering the rough weight-cuts that he puts his body through before each fight.

For Henderson, welterweight looks like a good fit – just not in the immediate future.

“I want 155 to be synonymous with myself. I want to be synonymous with the 155-pound weight class, but that being said, the older you are the harder it is to cut weight,” said Henderson during a recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio. “I’m getting a little bit older now and cutting weights sucks.”

Henderson, who is just 28 years old, brought up Dan Henderson, a former wrestler much like himself. “Hendo” has bounced around from middleweight to light heavyweight for much of his career, but has spoken many times about preferring to stay at 205 pounds, which is a weight he walks around at.

“There are a few guys who’ve said things pretty similar as far as cutting weight when you get older, how hard it is. Dan is a perfect example,” Henderson said. “He’s wrestled forever. I wrestled and cut weight six months, seven months out of the year since I was 12 years old. It’s kind of getting old. I don’t like to so much anymore.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout during last night’s post-fight press conference.

Losing the WEC lightweight title at the final WEC last December to Anthony Pettis put Henderson’s immediate UFC title aspirations on hold, but with a three fight UFC winning streak under his belt, “Smooth” is exactly where he wants to be. Henderson picked up convincing decision victories over Mark Bocek and the highly touted Jim Miller to earn a #1 contender’s fight against the ultra-popular Guida. The former WEC champ proved once again that he’s as good as anyone in the world at 155 by out-working “The Carpenter” en route to another decision win. The bout, which was not televised on FOX, earned Fight of the Night honors.

While Henderson fought hard to earn a title shot in 2011, Edgar fought hard to keep the title. Facing Maynard, the only man to defeat him in his professional career, twice this year, Edgar was nearly finished in the first round of both contests but somehow survived both times. In January, Edgar fought back from a 10-8 first round to earn a draw and in October, he fought back to finish Maynard in the fourth round to retain the title. Both bouts are on the shortlist for fight of the year.

UFC 144 is scheduled for February 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Now, with a fight against Clay Guida scheduled for this Saturday’s UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos card, Henderson has come to grips with not being part of the television show. The fight, which could decide the next contender to UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar, will be streamed live on Facebook and FOXSports.com.

Henderson is riding a two-fight win streak since dropping his WEC title to Anthony Pettis. He stopped Jim Miller recently, sending himself right back into title contention by knocking Miller out of the top spot. Guida has won four consecutive bouts, including a victory over Pettis.

“It’s just the next step up the ladder. I don’t really care who I fight,” said Henderson, in a recent interview with USA Today. “I like all the guys in the UFC. They’re all nice, good guys, so I don’t really want to call anybody out; I’m not that kind of guy. But I do want to further my career. I want to take the right steps going up the ladder to get to the title shot.”

“Bendo”, who admits he would make a terrible matchmaker, does believe that the winner of his fight with Guida deserves to be the top contender at 155 pounds.

“Makes sense to me. Clay’s on a big fight win streak. There’s a lot of rumors about our fight being a title contentionship and all that stuff,” Henderson said. “I only have two wins so far in the UFC, but both wins (were) over quality opponents. The one win was over who Dana White said was for sure, in fact, the No. 1 contender (Miller) if he had gotten past me. If I were to hear that Clay or I – the winner of us; after I beat Clay – get a title shot, I wouldn’t be too surprised about that.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the bout was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

A former WEC lightweight champion, Henderson lost the WEC 155 lb title at last WEC event ever in a back and forth fight against Anthony Pettis. Henderson shook off the loss in his UFC debut though, defeating grappler Mark Bocek at UFC 129. “Smooth” followed that up with the best performance of his career at UFC on Versus 5, putting a beat down on top contender Jim Miller, snapping Miller’s seven fight win streak and dominating the New Jersey native like no one before. With the victory, Henderson immediately put himself into UFC title contention.

Guida is no stranger to ruining the title hopes of former WEC champions. In his last bout, Guida pressured and constantly took down the previously mentioned Pettis, picking a unanimous decision victory. Pettis was originally scheduled to get an immediate UFC lightweight title shot when the UFC and WEC merged, but took a fight with Guida instead so Edgar and Gray Maynard could square off again following their draw at UFC 125. With the victory over “Showtime” Guida upped his winning streak to four fights, adding to victories over Takanori Gomi, Rafael dos Anjos, and Shannon Gugerty.

UFC on FOX 1 is scheduled for November 12 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

All four men spoke to media today through a conference call about their upcoming bouts and Five Ounces of Pain was on the line plucking out interesting soundbytes and other relevant nuggets of information.

Read below and find out whether or not the 170ers plan to keep things standing the entire time, how Henderson feels his BJJ matches up with Miller’s high-level grappling ability, and more!

Chris Lytle:

- Is expecting a great fight against Hardy
- Even a dominant win over Hardy won’t change his interest in eventually running for political office
- Considers himself a “nomad” when it comes to training rather than staying at one specific location / Doesn’t have time to open his own gym with family duties and a full-time job as a firefighter
- Joked that he’s hoping to hurt Hardy’s hand with his “thick skull” and jokes that Matt Mitrione has helped him with that
- Explains that the UFC put him/Hardy in the main event for a reason and it’s going to be an exciting fight, no “dry humping”

Dan Hardy:

- His move to Las Vegas has been smooth and he feels this has been his best training camp yet / Felt he needed to take himself out of his comfort zone / Has been sparring at various gyms including ring-time with Evan Dunham and Gilbert Yvel
- “I feel I’ve made a lot of improvements overt the past four weeks. I’m seeing improvements myself and hearing the same from other people. Regardless of where the fight goes I’m ready for it and I want the opportunity to show people what I can do.”
- Says he learned a lot from the GSP fight and blames his own arrogance for the loss to Carlos Condit
- Acknowledges the additional pressure from having lost three in a row but won’t focus on it too much / “I love being part of the UFC – part of this sport, part of this world. Yeah, there’s definitely pressure but I’ve gotta kinda go with the flow. I can’t force it too much. If I think about it too much it’s going to bring me down.”
- “I just don’t like having boring fights. I want to have fun fights and for me Chris Lytle is the kind of guy I look up to, the kind of guy I want to fight like. Fighting him is an honor. I know he’s gonna bring it, he’s gonna test me, and he’s gonna try and win the fight. And that’s exactly what I want.”
- Has changed his look for the fight to get a “fresh start”
- Was annoyed by Anthony Johnson’s decision to impose his wrestling after promising to stand but isn’t concerned about that being the case with Lytle

Ben Henderson:

- Isn’t thinking about any contendership implications
- Won’t take the fight personally with Miller, who had dissed WEC lightweights, but remembers the quote
- Says it’s the biggest fight of his career
- “The UFC has the toughest 155 pounders in the world and I’m excited to be here, to showcase the things that I do.”
- Has no idea what’s next for him after UFC Live 5 and doesn’t really care / “If you’re on the right track and you get your hand raised that’s all that really matters.”
- Feels they have similar styles and expects it to either be a fifteen minute war on the ground or a stand-up battle if their grappling neutralizes the other’s

Jim Miller:

- Like Henderson, Miller also isn’t looking beyond next weekend or at a potential title-fights in the future
- “I want a tough road. I want to fight all the best guys.”
- Thinks the WEC guys have won as many as they’ve lost and the biggest win they’ve had was Henderson’s win over Mark Bocek / Felt some WEC lightweights were disrespectful to the UFC’s 155ers
- Has not been told that if he beats Henderson he’ll get a shot at the belt

News of the bout was first reported by The Asbury Press and has since been confirmed by the UFC.

Miller is currently on a seven fight win streak with his most recent victory coming against Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128. In 22 professional fights, his only losses have come via decision to the aforementioned Edgar and Maynard. He’s slowly been working his way up to the top of the division and is looking to stake his claim as the top contender with a victory over Henderson.

As for Henderson, a victory over Miller would get him one step closer to a UFC Lightweight Title shot that alluded him last December when he lost to Anthony Pettis. After a very successful WEC career, Henderson made his UFC debut at UFC 129, picking up a decision victory over Mark Bocek.

UFC on Versus 5 is scheduled for August 14 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Also on the card is a welterweight showdown between top strikers Duane Ludwig and Amir Sadollah.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the match-up and attached event were reported by MMAJunkie.

Henderson is coming off a highlight-filled decision defeat to Anthony Pettis in WEC’s final show last month and will definitely have his skills put to the test by Bocek. Prior to the loss he had won ten straight fights including success against Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner, and Shane Roller.

Comparably, the red-headed Canadian is coming off a first-round submission of Dustin Hazelett a few weeks ago at UFC 124. He is 9-3 in his career but has won four of his last five fights with all victories coming by way of tap-out and the lone exception being a decision loss to Jim Miller.

If things go according to plan, the two talented lightweights will join the line-up for one of the UFC’s more notable cards in promotional history. UFC 129 marks the company’s debut in Ontario and is expected to draw up to 40,000 people with a goal of shattering the largest audience ever gathered in North America to watch a Mixed Martial Arts event.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Pettis, who is 12-1 overall, earned the opportunity with three consecutive victories in the promotion including a submission of respected WEC contender Shane Roller last August at WEC 50.

News of the expected title-fight was reported by Sherdog, though no official word has come from WEC executives on the matter.

The 12-1 Henderson is currently riding a ten-fight win streak with a pair of back-to-back Guillotine Chokes over Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone in his last two bouts. The scheduled match-up with Pettis will mark his second defense of the WEC Lightweight Championship with the first coming against Cerrone this past April at WEC 48.

An injury to main event fighter Benson Henderson, who was set to fight Donald Cerrone for the interim lightweight title, is being reported for the reason for the postponement.

The event has now been rescheduled for a date of October 10 and will still be broadcast live on Versus.

It has not yet been announced if the original venue of Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio will be the location of the postponed event. Had the event gone live, it would have marked the first time the WEC has ventured into Ohio.

There has also been no report on the injury Henderson has suffered, but he will still face Cerrone on the October 10 date.

All ticket refunds for the September 2nd event can be obtained at the point of purchase.

It appears as though current WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner may be forced to the sidelines indefinitely.

According to a recent report on Vindy.com, WEC founder and general manager Reed Harris said that Varner may never fight again due to the broken foot and hand sustained in his previous bout with Donald Cerrone.

That match-up was cut short when Cerrone struck a downed Varner in the face with an illegal knee in the fifth round. When it was ruled that the defending champion was unable to continue, the fight went to the scorecards where Varner came away with the split decision victory.

It has been reported that the WEC plans to strip Varner of his title shortly.

A previously announced bout between Cerrone and has bee promoted to a title fight to determine the new WEC lightweight champion.

The fight will be the main event at WEC 43 which is set for September 2 in Youngstown, Ohio.

**Reed Harris has recently stated in a report on MMAJunkie.com that his comments were taken out of context in the report by Vindy.com and that Varner would not be stripped unless his injuries prevented him from returning to action. 

“Jamie is not stripped of the title,” Harris was quoted as saying. “We’re all hoping Jamie can come back later this year and defend his title against whoever wins the interim title.”

Cerrone vs. Henderson will be for the interim championship.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned from sources that the WEC has engaged in preliminary talks to make a match between number one contender Donald Cerrone and up-and-coming prospect Benson Henderson with an interim 155 pound title at take.

The WEC has yet to confirm the potential matchup and an exact date has not been determined as of yet.

Cerrone, 10-1, has been patiently awaiting a rematch with Varner since losing a technical split decision on Jan. 25 at 3:10 of round 5. The tightly contested bout was shortened after an illegal foul brought a premature conclusion to the bout and sent the outcome to the hands of the judges before the round had completed.

Looking to stay active, Cerrone took a fight vs. James Krause at WEC 41 earlier this month and submitted Krause with a rear naked choke at 4:38 of round 1.

Meanwhile, Henderson improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the WEC following April’s first round TKO over former NCAA All-American Shane Roller at WEC 40. Henderson finished the talented prospect with punches at just 1:41 following the opening bell. The win proceeded his impressive WEC debut at WEC 38 in January that ended in victory for Henderson following a guillotine choke submission of Anthony Njokuani at 0:42 of round 2.