Former UFC champ Ben Henderson is coming off a controversial win over Josh Thomson in the main event of UFC on Fox 10, but it seems like the UFC isn’t interested in re-inserting him back into the title picture. So what’s a man to do? Well, accepting challenges from other top lightweights is a start – you know, as long as you can keep them straight. Rustam Khabilov took to twitter recently to “call out” the former champ for a fight:
I would be very happy to fight with such a great fighter like @BensonHenderson on UFC173 in May @ufc @danawhite I’m ready for big fights
— Rustam Khabilov (@KhabilovMMA) February 11, 2014
If that’s a call out, it’s the nicest one ever. Not many guys are complimentary when they angle for a fight. Nonetheless, Henderson responded to the tweet with a comment that is a little confusing:
@KhabilovMMA @ufc @danawhite seems like no 1 wants to play with u buddy (mysteriously), well I’ll be ur huckleberry…I’ll be ready by June
— Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) February 11, 2014
That’s great, except for the fact that it’s fellow Dagestani fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov that has had trouble finding opponents lately, not Khabilov. Don’t tell Rafael dos Anjos that – his manager accepted a bout with Khabilov thinking it was it Nurmagomedov too. Luckily (?) for them, Rustam got hurt and RDA got re-booked against Nurmagomedov at UFC 172.
This raises a few questions – does Henderson know who he’s talking about? And if he does, why would he volunteer himself to fight a guy outside the top 10? I don’t really care to be honest – Henderson vs. Khabilov sounds like an awesome fight. But is it worthwhile for Henderson? We’ll find out soon enough if it’s something real or if it’s just social media interaction that doesn’t lead to anything. But it’s amusing at least.
About the author
