Ben “Smooth” Henderson Ready For Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone

My least favorite part about covering live events is having to show up hours in advance. But the best part is spending those hours talking to whoever else is there. At WFFMMA’s Battle for the Desert this past weekend, I also got to ask some amazing fighters what I feel were pertinent questions. Here’s the scoop.

Ben “Smooth” Henderson (9-1) was hanging out, so I got to ask him about his upcoming bout with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (10-1). Henderson trains at the Lab in Glendale, a family oriented gym he says harbors no animosity towards any other gyms and has a good relationship with all the gyms in Phoenix (including Arizona Combat Sports, where Jamie Varner (16-2) trains.) “We don’t have any drama or bad blood between us or any other gyms,” Henderson said. He is completely uninvolved in the Varner/Cerrone dramafest currently taking place. Henderson feels 100% ready for a title shot, but stated that he didn’t think after only 2 WEC fights that the WEC would think he was ready for a title shot contention. “Luckily, they did feel that way about me,” he said. With all the focus on a potential rematch between Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner, I asked Henderson if he felt like he was being overlooked. “Not so much,” he said. “If I am…whatever. It is what it is. It’s not a big deal, eventually after the fight everything’ll be cleared up.” This highly anticipated bout will take place this Saturday, October 10th.

Although many people ARE counting Henderson out of the fight, I’ve been impressed with the power and technique in his stand-up game. And this was when he couldn’t even really see. Now he’s had surgery and I’m sure proper vision will take his game to the next level. Henderson also has a lot more wrestling than Cerrone. I’m predicting a very close match.

Ryan “Darth” Bader (9-0), along with teammate CB Dollaway (9-2), were the event’s official special guests. Bader will be facing BJJ black belt Eric “Red” Schafer (16-3-2) on October 24th. I asked him how he felt going up against a guy with such a stellar record. He said, “It’s just another fight for me. Everybody in the UFC is extremely tough and records mean nothing. I am just looking to do what I have been doing and that is win.” This is a hard fight to call but I’m sure will have us all on the edge of our seats.

UFC rock star Efrain Escudero (12-0) was signing autographs, but I’d already met him earlier that morning at Primero BJJ. Escudero is on the list of stellar fighters who wrestled at Pima under Joe Solorio, along with Jamie Varner (16-2), Drew Fickett (36-13), Jesse Forbes (10-3) and a bunch of other guys you’ll probably hear about in the future.

WEC fighter Dominick Cruz (14-1) was running around, as was Joe Duarte (5-1). In what might possibly be the first incident of its kind in MMA history (outside of Carano-land), I actually spent far more time grilling Cruz and Duarte about their female training partners than discussing their own careers. Molly “Maulinator” Helsel (7-7-1) and Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig (0-2) are among the female fighters at their gym, with Kim “Lil Pitbull” Rose (1-0) stopping by to cross-train there. But most notable was Kerry Vera (1-0), who is getting ready to battle Kim Couture (1-1).

Cruz let me know that he has been helping her with her wrestling and grappling and she’s really come a lot way. “I have a lot of confidence in Kerry,” Cruz said. “She’s good all around. She’s really athletic. She’s got some of the best stand up from a chick that I’ve ever seen.” Duarte echoed the sentiment. “Kerry is on another level when it comes to fighting as a female.”

Ed West (11-4) let me know he was looking for a fight but having difficulty finding an opponent and hasn’t fought in over a year. Who wants to fight West at 135 lbs.? Someone step up so we can put pressure on promoters to make it happen.