Duke Roufus is feeling supremely confident in Anthony Pettis’ rematch with Ben Henderson at UFC 164. Roufus was on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday to discuss the fight and said that he feels that Pettis “has this guy’s number” and that “Anthony has improved in every area Benson Henderson’s going to attack Anthony.”
One of the most interesting moments in the interview was when Roufus talked about Henderson’s striking game, which many feel has improved significantly since his time in the WEC:
“He’s actually gotten worse at striking in my humble opinion,” said the Milwaukee-based trainer. “He’s tried to experiment more. Experimentation, when you make fundamental mistakes, is not good.
“That’s actually what I do when I watch the [Donald] Cerrone fight, even the Joe Lauzon fight. Having done this so long, my thing is fundamentals. I try and attack their fundamentals and Anthony picks up on their making a mistake fundamentally. That’s where he capitalizes with the big finishes.”
The fight currently sits as a pick-’em or with Pettis as the slightest of underdog at the betting window, but it’s the closest the odds have been for a Henderson fight since the first fight with Frankie Edgar. Gilbert Melendez had actually gotten to +300 by fight time, but the best fight you can get at right now is +110. So it certainly seems that the betting public feels there’s a good chance that Roufus is correct that Pettis has Bendo’s number.
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