UFC champ Anthony Pettis took Benson Henderson’s title with a separated shoulder

Talk about fighting through the pain. UFC's 155 pound king Anthony Pettis revealed today on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour that he tapped out Ben…

By: Nate Wilcox | 10 years ago
UFC champ Anthony Pettis took Benson Henderson’s title with a separated shoulder
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Talk about fighting through the pain.

UFC’s 155 pound king Anthony Pettis revealed today on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour that he tapped out Ben Henderson at UFC164 while fighting with a separated shoulder. Here’s what Pettis had to say:

“You know what, my knee was fine, but I actually separated my shoulder two weeks before the [Henderson] fight. So, going into the fight I had a separated right shoulder. My jitz coach [Daniel Wanderley] rolled a little too hard and he slammed me on my shoulder, and I separated my shoulder two weeks before the fight.

“The last two weeks before the camp all I could do was roll really light. I couldn’t spar. For me it was just a mental thing. I’ve been through that before. It sucks that it happened two before the fight, but I wasn’t backing out of that one.

“(I didn’t consider pulling out of the fight) at all,” he said. “I just told me coach I’m going to settle down the last two weeks. I mean, I had a super-long training camp. From February until August I was training and getting ready for title fights. So I was 100 percent ready, but things happen. Every fighter can tell you, you never go into a fight 100 percent healthy.”

Pettis will make his first title defense against Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 9 in Sacramento on December 14.

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About the author
Nate Wilcox
Nate Wilcox

Nate Wilcox is the founding editor of BloodyElbow.com. As such he has hired every editor and writer to work for the site. Wilcox’s writing for BE is known for its emphasis on MMA history, the evolution of fighting techniques and strong opinions. Wilcox developed the SBN MMA consensus rankings which were featured in USA Today from 2009 to 2011. Before founding BE, Wilcox was a political operative working for such figures as Senators John Kerry and Mark Warner and an early political blogger. He is the co-author of Netroots Rising, a history of the political blogosphere from 2003 to 2007. Wilcox also hosts the Let It Roll podcast on music history for the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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