Henderson chokes out Khabilov at UFC Fight Night 42

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson has silenced his critics by trouncing Rustam Khabilov with a fourth-round rear-naked choke in the main event of UFC Fight Night 42 on Saturday, June 7 (Sunday PH time) at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Henderson’s detractors consistently questioned his killer instinct as the one-time 155-pound titlist had not stopped a cage counterpart since submitting Donald Cerrone under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner in April 2010.

After landing his heavy lead uppercut, Henderson fastened a rear-naked choke, coercing the 27-year-old Dagestani lightweight to wave the white flag at 1:16 of the fourth round.

“I don’t do a whole lot of talking, but I do my talking in here. I don’t need to talk out there. I talk in here,” Henderson warned in his post-fight interview.

Khabilov hoped to break into the division’s Top 10 at the expense of the No. 2 ranked Henderson, but he unfortunately gave the 30-year-old “Smooth” an opening to earn his first stoppage in four years.

“Anybody who wants to fight for the belt, come see me,” Henderson confidently challenged.

The inch-taller Khabilov frustrated his counterpart in the first round by controlling the clinch and taking him down, but Henderson was able to return to his feet quickly as he slowly picked apart the Jackson-Wink MMA standout with persistent forward pressure.

Henderson then found a loophole in his adversary’s game as he secured a body lock and dragged Khabilov to the mat, where the former champion attempted for a rear-naked choke.

“Tiger” also had a dominant moment in the large part of the third round as Henderson relied on his defensive scheme, trying to fend off a front choke.

Khabilov was able to place his body on top in the dying seconds of the third period, but Henderson executed a sit-out escape to reverse the position and claim the leverage.

In the fourth round, Henderson tagged Khabilov with a stunning right uppercut-straight left combination and followed him to the floor, where he pursued to lock the fight-ending choke.

With his impressive performance versus Khabilov, Henderson has now won two bouts in a row since dropping the lightweight strap to Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 this past August and improves his mixed martial arts (MMA) record to 21-3.

On the other hand, Khabilov tastes his first Octagon defeat and drops his win-loss slate to 17-2.

In the co-headliner of UFC Fight Night 42, hometown hero Diego Sanchez took a controversial spit verdict against Ross Pearson to put himself back on the winning track after suffering two-straight setbacks.

Despite getting thoroughly manhandled from bell to bell, two of the three judges saw it in favor of Sanchez with 30-27 and 29-28 counts, while the other official awarded the 30-27 score to Pearson.

Flyweight contender John Dodson bloodied John Moraga with a series of strikes towards the end of the second stanza to compel the cageside physician to stop the contest, while Rafael Dos Añjos overwhelmed lightweight newcomer Jason High with a second-round technical knockout onslaught.

Furthermore, the relentless pressure of Piotr Hallmann weathered the spirited effort from Yves Edwards as he wore down the 37-year-old Bahamian fighter in the third frame to secure a submission win.

Meanwhile, Bryan Caraway opened the UFC Fight Night 42 main card on an impressive note as he submitted crowd-favorite Erik Perez with a rear-naked choke.

The 29-year-old “Kid Lightning” latched himself to his opponent’s back and wrapped his forearm across Perez’s throat, forcing the tapout at the 1:52 mark of the second round. – Rappler.com