Josh Thomson: 'Ben Henderson is a good athlete, but he doesn't hit hard'

J. Thomson (right) absorbs blow from B. Henderson (left); veteran questioned the power of his rival's strikes. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

On January 25th, Josh thomson was defeated by Ben henderson, in a split decision by the judges, in the main fight of UFC on FOX 10. The result, however, was widely questioned by president Dana White and a large part of the fans and specialized press. In Thomson's opinion, the main observation made after the 25 minutes of fighting against Bendo is that even at 35 years old he can still fight on equal terms against a former Ultimate champion. Regarding his opponent, the veteran recognized that Henderson is a good athlete, but questioned the power of his strikes.

“Every time he got close to me, I felt like I was able to grab him around the waist and knock him down. Everything I had in my head about him being strong, kicking hard, all those things weren't true. I got all of this in my head just listening to comments from other people talking about how hard he kicks or how strong he is and that kind of thing. We went there, we fought for the first few minutes and I didn't feel intimidated at all. Let me tell you: he's not strong, he doesn't hit hard and he's not strong. He doesn't kick hard. None of these things apply to him. Ben is a good athlete, he's a good fighter... I'll give him a lot of credit, but the things that people think about hurting, don't hurt at all,” said Thomson, in an interview with the website “Sherdog”.

At 35, Josh thomson He has a record of 20 wins, six losses and one unsuccessful fight. “Punk”, as he is known, played in Ultimate in the early days of the Zuffa era, shortly after the acquisition of the organization by the company led by Dana White and the Fertitta brothers. After leaving the event in 2004, Thomson played once for the now-defunct PRIDE and went to Strikeforce, where he played in the first edition and remained until the end of the organization. In Strikeforce, Josh won the American belt and the linear lightweight title. Back in the UFC, in April last year, the veteran knocked out Nate diaz and, more recently, was defeated by Ben henderson.