ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

TORONTO -- The years of hard work and believing that one day he’d get a world title shot, even during difficult times, had finally come to fruition for TJ Grant.

He’d scaled the final hurdle on May 25 -- a first-round knockout of Gray Maynard. That victory, his fifth in a row, cemented Grant as the No. 1 lightweight contender. Next up: A title shot against then-UFC champion Benson Henderson.

Grant was ready and confident. He’d proven himself a worthy contender. This was his time and he was ready to claim what he always believed belonged to him -- the UFC lightweight championship belt.

But as is always the case with Grant, he wasn’t about to sit around and enjoy the spoils of his most recent accomplishment. Besides, his goal was never simply to land a title shot, Grant wants to be champion. He never takes shortcuts, and wasn’t about to start now. So he immediately headed back to the gym and began working on staying sharp and improving his skills.

There was Muay Thai and wrestling and some boxing. Then it was time to revisit jujitsu workouts. And that’s when Grant’s world turned upside down.

Two weeks after the biggest victory of his professional career, Grant was accidentally kicked in the head twice during a jujitsu training session. It truly was accidental, Grant says. There is no kicking in jujitsu.

A training partner’s foot caught Grant as he was trying to avoid a sweep. These things happen in sparring sessions sometimes, but this particular incident happened shortly after the Maynard fight. And Grant admits he got his bell rung in that contest, which likely caused the kick during training to do more damage.

It was later revealed that Grant suffered a concussion. He was forced to pull out of the Aug. 31 showdown with Henderson. former WEC titleholder Anthony Pettis replaced him.

Grant was devastated. He’d worked so hard to get to that point in his career, but he remained positive that, with rest, his opportunity would soon resurface. But just as he had come to grips with this setback, Grant began receiving attacks on his character.

He didn’t know any of his attackers personally. They conducted their verbal assaults online, accusing Grant of taking money from UFC officials to step aside in favor of Pettis. Anyone slightly familiar with Grant’s values knows he’d never do something of the sort. The accusations, however, pained Grant. And he was angered by it.

That, however, was just the beginning. After Pettis defeated Henderson, UFC officials again penciled Grant in as the top lightweight contender. He would fight Pettis for the title on Dec. 14 in Sacramento, Calif.

But who said lightning doesn’t strike twice. Another medical examination concluded that Grant would not likely be ready to fight in December. He’d made progress, but not enough to begin vigorous training. Grant was again pulled from a title bout.

And again haters went on the attack. But this time, Grant was prepared for the onslaught.

“At first I was heated, I was mad,” Grant told ESPN.com. “But now it’s actually hilarious. Since I pulled out of this fight [against Pettis] I’ve seen a couple of people write stuff and I just laugh. I mean I did just buy a new house. Maybe that’s because I got paid off, who knows. To me it’s a joke.

“I’m kind of numb to the whole situation. I’m just worrying about myself, and getting healthy. I don’t really care. I did what I had to do, I won five in a row. If I have to win another one to get a title shot, I will do that.

“If I get a title shot that will be awesome. But right now my No. 1 concern is getting healthy.”

Grant can taste the lightweight title and continues to believe his opportunity will come, sooner rather than later. He remains levelheaded. Grant does not intend to rush back into the gym until he is completely healed. Avoiding another setback is very high on his priority list.

But his patience is often tested. There is nothing easy about training for fights, but it pales in comparison to sitting around doing nothing. Inactivity is killing Grant. He has never experienced anything like it, and doesn’t want to go through this again.

It’s part of the healing process, but Grant doesn’t like it at all. He yearns for the day when he can return to physical contact. And he is slowly getting there. Grant has begun light workouts.

“I find that I have more injuries from sitting on the couch than from going to the gym and going through the grind,” Grant said. “Because my body is so used to being in shape and working all the time that when it’s not I get super tense and sore. I’m looking forward to getting back, though I am doing some light training now.”

Grant can’t say with certainty when he will actually return to the Octagon, but plans to keep a close on Pettis’ first UFC title defense against Josh Thomson. If his recovery continues going smoothly, Grant is hopeful of making his return early next year.

But he can’t make any guarantees. It’s one day at a time, and the first order of business is getting back in the gym to conduct full training. A giant smile forms on Grant’s face at the thought of returning to training camp. Grant knows when that time arrives, his sites will again be set on landing that elusive title shot.

“I really have no idea when I will return, I could be ready to fight in January,” Grant said. “But at the same time I haven’t been on the mats, I haven’t done any training for however long. So I have to get myself acclimated to training and doing all those things.

“I’ve never gone three months with literally no exercise. That’s a big change. But I am exercising now, which is helping to keep me sane. And that’s a good thing.

“I’m optimistic to get back and once I’m 100 percent, I’m training and I feel confident then we’ll ask the UFC to let’s get a fight.”

Former lightweight champion Benson Henderson suffered no structural damage to the right elbow that Anthony Pettis placed in an armbar during the first round of their title bout Aug. 31 at UFC 164 in Milwaukee.

Henderson received the diagnosis from Brian Shafer, a Phoenix-based elbow specialist who also serves as team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“My elbow isn’t going to be an issue,” Henderson said Friday. “Dr. Shafer said I can resume training immediately but to take it slow and steady for a couple of weeks and do my rehab work. Of course, I am anxious to get going full speed again, but I will be smart and patient about it as well.”

Henderson was seeking to successfully defend his lightweight title for a UFC-record fourth time; he shares the record of three with BJ Penn. But Henderson’s hopes of breaking the mark were dashed when Pettis locked him in an armbar at 4:31 of the opening round.

“I felt his arm snap,” Pettis said after defeating Henderson for the second time in a title bout. “And he said, ‘Tap, tap, tap.’”

In their first meeting, on Dec. 16, 2010, Pettis beat Henderson by unanimous decision to claim the WEC 155-pound championship.

Though Pettis lifted the UFC belt from Henderson with an impressive showing, he did not leave the Octagon unscathed -- suffering a sprained right knee. It is expected that Pettis’ injury will require seven to eight weeks of rehabilitation to heal completely.

Pettis is slated to make his first UFC lightweight title defense against top contender TJ Grant. A date for the fight has not yet been set.

MILWAUKEE -- The hometown kid did good Saturday night as Anthony Pettis made it two title wins in a row over Benson Henderson with a first-round armbar submission.

The first victory was sweet -- a unanimous decision in December 2010 to capture the WEC belt -- but the second was even sweeter. When Pettis returned to his house (just a stone’s throw from the Bradley Center, host of UFC 164), early Sunday morning, he had the UFC 155-pound championship belt in his possession. There is no comparison.

“[UFC] is the NFL, NBA of mixed martial arts,” Pettis said. “Winning the WEC title meant a lot to me. I was very young. I fought Ben a year and half into the WEC. So I didn’t have a lot of time, a lot of experience to fight someone like Ben Henderson.

“Now, we’ve both grown in this sport. The guy is a great champion. I mean he’s a very respectful guy; he never does dumb things out there. Now we’re both in the UFC and I win this belt. It’s amazing. It’s something I really tried hard to achieve and now I’ve accomplished it.”

What occurred Saturday night was more than two years in the making. Pettis always believed he would become UFC champion, it just took a little longer than he planned.

When he entered UFC in 2011, Pettis was slated to face the winner of then-lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Both those two fought to a split draw on Jan. 1 of that year, putting Pettis’ UFC title showdown on hold.

Injuries would delay the Edgar and Maynard fight. Rather than sit idly, Pettis opted to face Clay Guida in June 2011 -- he would lose by unanimous decision. Pettis hasn’t lost a UFC fight since.

But all that is neither here nor there; Pettis is the UFC lightweight champion now, and that’s a good thing. You see, Pettis is a very athletic, confident and physically strong fighter, who is still maturing as a mixed martial artist.

“I’m not even in my prime yet,” Pettis admitted. He’s only 26 and his body is still growing.

And he already has developed a reputation for putting on exciting fights. You never know what move Pettis might pull from his large bag of tricks during a fight. He keeps fans and his opponents guessing what his next unorthodox maneuver will be. Pettis is fun to watch.

Add to all this the fact that Pettis competes in the talent-rich lightweight division and UFC fans are going to enjoy this ride for a while. Guys like TJ Grant, who Pettis replaced Saturday night, and Gilbert Melendez make their residence at 155. And let’s not forget Henderson, as he remains a threat to one day reclaim the belt.

But there are also potential challenges to Pettis’ reign lurking at featherweight. There’s champion Jose Aldo, who Pettis was slated to face in August at 145 pounds before an injury forced him out of that bout.

And does anyone really believe Edgar will never resume his quest to again place the lightweight title around his waist?

There are several potential high-profile fights awaiting Pettis. And each one looks like it would an action-filled affair. The fun has yet to begin.


But, in what seems to be the case often these days whenever Pettis is involved, there is a downside. Pettis has struggled with injuries the past year. In 2012, he suffered a shoulder injury that shelved him for several months. He later sustained a shoulder injury during a training session for his showdown with Donald Cerrone; a skin infection in his elbow further postponed the Cerrone bout.


Then he was forced to pull out of his featherweight title fight with Aldo due to a right knee injury, sustained during a training session. All was forgotten, however, the past few days as Pettis and Henderson appeared physically primed for their rematch.

But just when it seemed the worst was over, Pettis left the cage Saturday night, belt in hand, with another injury. This time it was his left knee.

“Henderson threw a kick and I went to check it with my left leg and he hit it right in the crook of my knee,” Pettis said. “I felt it go back and forth, but I don’t know yet.

“I was stepping on it and it was hurting a little bit. When he had me against the cage I was standing on one leg because it was starting to lock up.”

Injuries now seem to happen quite often to Pettis. For all the dangerous opponents lining up to dethrone him, staying physically healthy might pose the greatest challenge to the newly crowned champion. Maybe it’s just part of a growth spurt. Perhaps. We can only hope so.

Pettis is an exciting fighter, who is poised to thrill UFC fans for a long time. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that his recent run of injuries is nothing more than a weird coincidence.

MILWAUKEE -- Lightweight champion Benson Henderson has successfully defended his UFC 155-pound title three times in a row. The only other fighter to accomplish that feat inside the Octagon is former lightweight titleholder BJ Penn.

But as Henderson prepares to put his title on the line Saturday night against Anthony Pettis, some have wondered whether he has what it takes to retain the belt a fourth straight time. The concern is raised because of Henderson’s previous loss to Pettis and close calls in recent title bouts.

Henderson has won two of his three UFC title defenses by split decision. And the first time Henderson faced Pettis, in December 2010 while defending his WEC lightweight title bout, he lost by unanimous decision.

That loss, however, and the razor-thin outcomes of his more recent title bouts, don’t worry Henderson. His goal remains the same: just win. It’s that simple.

“What it all boils down to is getting your hand raised,” Henderson told ESPN.com on Thursday during a media conference to promote the title rematch with Pettis. “Whether you do it emphatically, impressively, whether you do it by split decision or whatever the case may be.

“Honestly, if a guy walks into the cage and slips on a banana peel and I win, I will take that win. I don’t care. The way I fight, I’m always out there to beat the guy up. I just want to beat him up. I don’t care about judges’ decisions or this or that, I just want to beat the guy up.”

Improved stand-up boosts Mendez’s confidence
Featherweight contender Chad Mendes has been on a knockout tear since coming up short in his title bid against Jose Aldo at UFC 142 on Jan. 14, 2012. Mendes was knocked out during the first round of that title bout, but he's knocked out each of his opponents in the three fights that followed.

Mendes, ranked fourth among 145-pound fighters by ESPN.com, went into that fight unsure of his stand-up skills -- both offensively and defensively. He wasn’t confident anywhere on his feet then.

As a result, Mendes was vulnerable standing against Aldo and got caught by a knee to the chin. His hopes of leaving the cage a champion that night came ended at the 4:59 mark.

But Mendes is better on his feet now. He is comfortable letting his hands go, and moving his feet and head comes naturally now. And he has developed into a solid power puncher. Mendes no longer lacks confidence standing in the cage.

“It’s not that I wasn’t confident as a fighter, it’s just that the stand-up part of the game wasn’t there for me,” Mendes said. “A lot of people said I took that fight too early in my career. But it’s a title fight; I’m not going to turn it down.

"I believe I was winning the first round until the final second. I’m a completely different fighter now. I know I can hang. I’ve grown and gotten so much better. I want another title shot."

With Wanderlei unavailable, UFC seeking foe for Sonnen
There are two things Chael Sonnen wants more than anything else in his professional fighting career right now: a showdown with Wanderlei Silva and a spot on the UFC 167 main card. But it's very unlikely one of his wishes will be met any time soon.

According to UFC president Dana White, a fight between Sonnen and Silva isn’t happening this year. White said Silva is injured and would accept only a pay-per-view deal to face Sonnen.

Pay-per-view deals are given only to champions, and Silva isn’t close to contending for the middleweight title. That puts the brakes on a Sonnen-Silva fight. Besides, Silva’s injury, which White says is back-related, will keep him out of action for the remainder of this year.

“Chael wants to fight in the co-main event of the [Georges] St-Pierre fight,” said White, referring to St-Pierre’s title defense against Johny Hendricks on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas. “Chael wants it. He wants to fight on that card. He has his heart set on it.”

There have been recent reports of Phil Davis getting the fight with Sonnen. White, however, quashed those reports. The UFC is still seeking an opponent to meet Sonnen at UFC 167. It’s possible that Davis is among the fighters being considered, but White refused to reveal any of the potential candidates.

“There’s nothing done [with Davis],” White said.

As lightweight champion Benson Henderson and top contender Anthony Pettis head into their showdown Saturday night at UFC 164 in Milwaukee, much attention has been paid to their 2010 WEC title bout.

The fight was as an action-filled, closely contested affair, highlighted by Pettis’ off-the-cage kick that floored Henderson in the fifth round. Pettis would win by unanimous decision, lifting the WEC 155-pound belt from Henderson. With images of that bout still fresh, it’s reasonable for fans to expect much of the same in the rematch.

While Henderson-Pettis II is a safe bet to deliver in the action department, the bout could look quite different than their initial encounter. One major difference is Pettis: He is a more aggressive fighter than the one Henderson faced nearly three years ago.

As hard as it is to believe, Pettis has evolved as a fighter in more ways than one. He is not just prepared to become lightweight champion again, but to hold the title for a very long time.

“My mindset is different; my experience, my striking, my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu, everything is top-notch. My dieting, too,” Pettis told ESPN.com. “This [mixed martial arts] has become a lifestyle for me. When we first met, I was only 22 going on 23 years old. Now I’m 26 and I’ve made this my lifestyle. I’ve learned a lot and I’m way more experienced as a mixed martial artist. I’m definitely a whole different Anthony Pettis.

“There’s no more holding back for me. When I go out there, I’m letting loose. When I hold back, I’m thinking about the other fighter, what’s the game plan and what he’s trying to do and how I’m going to finish him.

“I just need go out there and be myself. When I’m being myself, I’m dangerous. And everybody knows it. That’s why I’ve done so well in my last two fights.”

Pettis put on a striking clinic against Joe Lauzon in February 2010 and against Donald Cerrone on Jan. 26. He finished both fighters by first-round knockout.

“

I beat him once already, so it wasn't my place to call for a rematch. Since he's the champ that's the key for me. I want to be the champion, so whoever has the belt at this time, and it happens to be Ben Henderson, that's who I'm going after.

” -- Anthony Pettis, on fighting Benson Henderson for the second time.

In each of those fights, Pettis showed patience and great balance when delivering kicks that sent Lauzon and Cerrone to the canvas. He finished both downed opponent with punches.

While his striking was impressive, it’s what Pettis did before unleashing his offense that stands out: He controlled the distance. Pettis is athletic and light on his feet.

In the past, he would use that athletic ability to offset deficiencies in his game. But he has tightened up his technique and put his speed and power to better use. This has come in handy in the larger UFC cage, though Pettis doesn’t expect it to be a big advantage against Henderson.

“The WEC cage was about 5 feet shorter than the UFC cage,” Pettis said. “The more room for me, the better. I’m a rangy fighter, I like to fight at a range.

“But it plays well for both of us. Henderson is a rangy guy. He doesn’t like to be in exchanges much and he uses his footwork well to get out of situations.

“The bigger cage benefits both of us. But I’m not going to base my game plan off the size of the cage. I know what I have to do to win this fight.”

Whether in a WEC or UFC cage, where this rematch takes place doesn’t matter to Pettis; his No. 1 priority remains the same: to become lightweight champion again. And having to go through Henderson again to do it isn’t an issue.

For Henderson, the first fight remains fresh in his mind, especially with that now-famous kick repeatedly shown in prefight promos. But for Pettis, a rematch with Henderson was not on his to-do list until the UFC lightweight title changed hands on Feb. 26, 2012. That’s when Henderson unseated then-titleholder Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision.

“Ben’s an amazing fighter; he’s the champ for a reason,” Pettis said. “But I never had my sights set on fighting Ben Henderson again. Once he won that belt, that’s when I said I want to fight him again.

“I beat him once already, so it wasn’t my place to call for a rematch. Since he’s the champ, that’s the key for me. I want to be the champion, so whoever has the belt at this time, and it happens to be Ben Henderson, that’s who I’m going after.”

It's been a couple of years since Benson Henderson and his trainer, John Crouch, watched their 2010 WEC title loss to Anthony Pettis.

Henderson doesn't get "too tape happy" to begin with. He'll watch a fight once to find a feel for his opponent and be done with it. So in advance of the lightweights' Aug. 31 rematch in Milwaukee, Henderson may not even revisit the close decision and the Showtime kick. The truth is, he needs no refresher course on his only loss during 18 fights over the past six years. Lessons there to be learned, have been.

"I was able to man up and move on with my life," Henderson told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "It wasn't anything I was obsessing over. Now that we do get the chance to square off again and once I get my hands on him it's going to be a fun night for me. Let's put it that way."

The current UFC lightweight champion, seeking his fifth straight defense, is clear about where he could have done better the first time around. Outside of a few "stale moments" he classified his performance during one of the most dramatic title fights in Zuffa history as just "OK." Henderson and Crouch felt the effort in the cage that night was lackadaisical. In response, the trainer didn't ask his charge to get "mean," per se, but he wanted Henderson to be "more aggressive and try to have our way in the fight." Henderson, 27 at the time, stewed for a bit. He was quiet. Reflective. But also motivated.

"It would have been the same against anybody," said Crouch, who coaches out of The Lab in Glendale, Ariz. "He likes to compete. He hates to lose. He took it very hard."

Henderson's next appearance was his UFC debut. "As soon as we started in the UFC you could see the difference," Crouch said. "When he fought [Mark] Bocek, fought [Jim] Miller, fought [Clay] Guida, we were much more aggressive." Those wins set Henderson up for a title challenge against Frankie Edgar. All Henderson has done since is win, which considering his current status is the only thing he needs to do. Taking on Pettis is the next step. That's how Henderson and Crouch see it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"When you've got the belt, every single person in this division wants to beat me up," Henderson said. "That's how it goes. It doesn't matter to me who my next defense is against. It's cool."

"It's the same thing for us," Crouch said. "It's going to be our fourth belt defense. We're gonna keep the belt for a while. It's just what we do."

If there's ever a good moment to fight Pettis, weeks removed from a knee injury that knocked him out of an Aug. 3 challenge of Jose Aldo, it would seem to be now. The 26-year-old challenger got the call after TJ Grant was concussed while training for his title shot. Pettis was in line for his own opportunity after the WEC win, but injuries derailed those plans and kept him out of action more than he’d like the past couple of years. In the meantime, the current champion strung together consistent performances against top-shelf competitors, including a squeaker in April over Gilbert Melendez.

"Benson has developed a whole bunch” since losing to Pettis, Crouch said. “You kind of overstate that with your own guy. I think he's better, but it's just part of the process."

Henderson has been pushed, prodded, and proven to be sharp. The challenger, spectacular yet sporadic.

The switch from Grant to Pettis is a "curveball," Henderson said, but nothing he hasn't dealt with in the past. And with five and a half weeks remaining until fight night, there's plenty of time for Henderson to properly prepare. The fact is Henderson had already cut down on the length of training camps because, Crouch said, "he works too hard and beats his body up.” Since they were just about to get in the gym to prepare for Grant, "timing is just fine," the trainer said.

Henderson sees the scenario in front of him as typical, which means there's no such thing as a perfect situation in MMA. At a minimum, Pettis is a guy with a chance, and that's all any fighter requires to pull off something special. This is how the lightweight champion processed Chris Weidman’s stunning victory over Anderson Silva: “The reason why we fight is that any given day the best can lose.”

Pettis, of course, is no long shot. Oddsmakers have pegged the challenger, who’s fighting in his hometown, as the slight favorite.

"It doesn't matter to me where it's at, who's it against, what hometown," Henderson said. "Bump all that noise. It doesn't matter to me. I'm going to beat him up. At the end of the night I'm going to get my hand raised."

One question I get just about every week on the Friday chat was some variation of this: Which UFC champion will fall first?

For the past year, it’s been easy to imagine that none of the current champions would ever lose again, given the state of the matchmaking. Not with Ronda Rousey fighting Liz Carmouche, and Georges St-Pierre fighting Nick Diaz, and Jon Jones fighting Chael Sonnen, and Anderson Silva fighting Stephan Bonnar with no belt in the balance, and Dominick Cruz not fighting at all.

With landslide favorites in these matchups, the answer was always Junior dos Santos. Heavyweights have never been good at holding on to the belt. Then it became Cain Velasquez, when he beat Dos Santos. That is, until Velasquez was resaddled with Antonio Silva, whose odds the second time were longer than his gangly reach. When that happened, the question of who would fall first came back around to its usual futility.

The real question was: Who would get Matt Serra’d first?

For the past year, it wasn’t that the UFC champions were being catered to and protected, so much as the matchmaking lacked imagination. Or the matchmaking had too much imagination, because it required the open-mindedness of our disposable income. There was not enough genuine threat, due to circumstances (injuries), limitations (shallow heavyweight division) and cash-out gimmickry (Sonnen). Aside from a few exceptions -- Gilbert Melendez versus Benson Henderson, say, or any Demetrious Johnson fight -- for a long time we had main events that looked and felt more like potboilers.

Just activity for the sake of activity, with low-flame drama.

Yet here we are in mid-2013, and a champion has fallen. Anderson Silva, the longest-tenured, most unthinkable of the titleholders with his 16-0 record in the UFC, lost to Chris Weidman spectacularly at UFC 162. There’d be no such thing as “eras” if they went on forever. Now the Silva era hinges on the rematch in December. How are those for stakes?

If that wasn't novel enough, after a long dry spell of pretenders getting shots on whims and shaking limbs, suddenly it looks as if Silva could be just the first domino to fall. Most of the title fights slated to take place in the second half of 2013 pits a challenger who looks and feels like an actual threat to the throne. Suddenly we can imagine a world where Johny Hendricks is posing for magazine articles with the belt slung over his shoulder, know what I mean?

Think about this: By the end of 2013, we might have recast our pantheon of UFC champions. Hendricks is a legitimate threat to St-Pierre. So is the barely talked about John Moraga over flyweight champion Johnson. Dos Santos could reclaim his title against Velasquez, just the same as Silva could reclaim his belt against Weidman. These fights are booked and happening (pending health).

Rousey will be the odds-on favorite to beat Miesha Tate, just as Jose Aldo will loom large over Chan Sung Jung -- but Anthony Pettis beat Benson Henderson once, what’s to say he can’t to it again at the end of August? Especially in his hometown of Milwaukee?

Romanticists might point to Alexander Gustafsson as a viable challenge to Jon Jones, but that one is more wait and see. Yet Gustafsson feels like Ares in there against Jones after fostering our collective beliefs for so long over Sonnen’s chances.

By the end of 2013, our pound-for-pound lists may become a weekly Etch-a-Sketch. This is how it was drawn up in the Ultimate Fighting Championship -- to stake the best fighters in the world against the people who the matchmakers think could beat them. That’s how this thing works best. Champions, after all, are made to be vulnerable.

And it’s refreshing to look over a slate of upcoming fights and genuinely have no idea how things are going to go. It’s better, when asked a question like "which UFC champion will fall first," to counter with: "A better question is -- which one will still be champion this time next year?"

News stories following Bellator MMA's first event of the summer will focus rightly on Muhammed Lawal's vicious knockout of Seth Petruzelli and Renato "Babalu" Sobral's retirement.

And for that, Bellator and Spike TV should be grateful.

Because without Lawal driving a rivet through Petruzelli's face, or the memories and plaudits inspired by Sobral -- whose decision to lay down his gloves in the center of the cage while kneeling reverentially was lovely -- Wednesday night's fight card came across as all sorts of ugly.

Bellator can represent itself as challenger to the UFC, as a place where competition between fighters is the only thing that matters -- toughest tournament in sports and all -- but that's undercut when guys such as 35-year-old, 5-foot-8, 260-pound Jeremiah O'Neal (12-22) are given bouts, and the Ron Sparks of the world receive live television slots.

In O'Neal's case, he fought boxing convert Raphael Butler, who went to 6-0 with an early knockout. I failed to see the point. O'Neal won't go anywhere -- he lost to a bunch of names, but mostly at welterweight and middleweight. He entered Bellator off a loss. Worse: O'Neal's last win came in 2011, against 1-3 Kelly Rundle, who turns 51 this August. Prior to that, O'Neal hadn't won since 2007. Want to kill some time? Check out the records of the guys O'Neal actually defeated.

Look, I don't want to tear down O'Neal. It's Bellator that deserves to be embarrassed. I've given them plenty of credit for finding young, fresh talent. For the most part, the promotion's scouting team of Sam Caplan and Zach Light do a very good job, but their work can easily get dinged when this kind of matchmaking happens, even on an undercard contest. Butler can't improve as a prospect against a guy like O'Neal, so what's the point? He hits hard -- fine. But we could have seen that just the same if he faced a heavy bag.

As for television, the decision to match Vitaly Minakov against Sparks was pretty sad. Minakov (11-0) looks like a legit heavyweight prospect, but no one could know one way or the other after he put away the 38-year-old Sparks in 32 seconds. Thankfully, Minakov faces Ryan Martinez on July 31, who at least appears a threat.

Let me leave on an up note. Bellator's card at the end of July near Albuquerque sets up as a terrific night of fights. Lawal meets Jacob Noe in the abbreviated 205-pound tournament finals. Minakov is matched with Martinez. Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler returns against gritty David Rickels. I'm most interested in watching 22-year-old Andrey Koreshkov (who is the embodiment of the anti-Jeremiah O'Neal) fight unbeaten American Ben Askren.

GSP-Hendricks is a go

The UFC welterweight championship contest between Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks was made official this week. It will headline what most people will come to call the UFC's 20th anniversary event on Nov. 16, most likely in Las Vegas.

I'll just say this: I don't care that the UFC couldn't pull off an interdivisional mega-fight at Madison Square Garden to mark the occasion. GSP-Hendricks is absolutely fine by me -- no matter the night, regardless of the commemoration.

Why? Easy. Hendricks appears to be the biggest threat to St-Pierre in the welterweight division. And I think the once-beaten southpaw power-puncher pulls off the upset.

Good news, bad news

Bad news first.
Anthony Pettis needs at least six weeks to recover from an injured meniscus. So he'll miss a featherweight title shot with Jose Aldo in early August, and an Aug. 31 lightweight shot in his hometown of Milwaukee against Benson Henderson. No young fighter has exhibited more patience than Pettis. (Ricardo Lamas might think he's getting stiffed here as well.) But, not to worry, his chance will come. It's inevitable.

Now the good news.

TJ Grant won't get pushed out of a championship spot against Henderson. The 29-year-old Canadian smoked Gray Maynard in May to earn the opportunity, and should be the man to face Henderson -- even if some may say it's not nearly as marketable a pay-per-view attraction as a rematch between Henderson and Pettis, Showtime Kick, et al.

Anyhow, like GSP-Hendricks, I'm calling an upset. Grant beats Henderson.

Lombard to 170

There had been calls for Hector Lombard to drop 15 pounds and fight at welterweight for as long as the strong Cuban competed in MMA. Yet for seven years, Lombard saw no reason to leave middleweight. He was strong and fast, and won more than enough contests by stoppage to form a convincing argument that 185 was the place to be.

Then he entered the UFC. And a year later, Lombard officially revealed it was time to shed the weight. Losses to Tim Boetsch and Yushin Okami indicated Lombard wasn’t as good as he thought, and larger middleweights who were also viable competitors could stifle his explosion.

What could a 170-pound Lombard do?

Get fans excited, for starters, especially if he carries his power down with him. Lombard posted on Twitter that he wants to fight Nate Marquardt, who was also a middleweight convert. That’s a nice first fight for him.

The real question is whether Lombard will be able to handle the speed of the welterweight division. For all of the talk of his power, it was Lombard’s haste that made him at 185. Absent that advantage and coupled with the realization that he’s probably shorter than most welterweights, Lombard will have to make full use of his skills, including a judo game that always seems underutilized when he fights.

Lady Liberty says 'no' to MMA again

Ready for the least shocking news of 2013?

Sheldon Silver, speaker of the New York State Assembly, declined to bring for a vote a bill intended to legalize MMA in the state. That makes Silver 4-0 against MMA legislation, having scuttled the process the past four years.

Because Silver obviously can’t watch pro MMA in New York -- the only state in the Union where MMA remains banned -- he might try the Glory event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday.

See, kickboxing is legal in New York. Yes, even kickboxing three times on one night -- which is what the winner of Glory’s $200,000 prize will be expected to do.

It’s insane that New York licenses fighters to kickbox three times in a single evening and prohibits them from competing in MMA at all.

If you like fights, Tuesday was a head spinner.

I opened my podcast this week discussing the quality mixed martial arts on tap for June. Forget that. With all the bouts now announced, August is officially out of control. UFC will pull four events, two on pay-per-view, starting with Jose Aldo's featherweight title defense against Anthony Pettis in Rio de Janeiro. A lightweight title fight at UFC 164 closes out the month, when Benson Henderson defends against TJ Grant. And sandwiched in between, the first and second UFC events on FOX Sports 1 are loaded.

Henderson tweeted early Wednesday that he learned the date and location of his fight with Grant, which headlines a terrific card in Milwaukee, via Twitter. I'd hazard a guess that the UFC lightweight champion isn't the only fighter who found out like this. Plenty of them, men and women both, ought to be fired up. That goes the same for fans, which is why you shouldn't need to try hard to rattle off 10 contests that are worth getting excited about.

Including the title fights, my list is Brad Pickett-Michael McDonald, Carlos Condit-Martin Kampmann, Sara McMann-Sarah Kaufman, Frank Mir-Josh Barnett, Lyoto Machida-Phil Davis, Alistair Overeem-Travis Browne, Matt Brown-Thiago Alves, Eric Koch-Dustin Poirier. I like each for their style, relevance and expected level of competition, and could have chosen others -- that’s how deep August has turned out to be.

It's strange how some factors, such as time to prepare, can influence perception. On Monday I thought a fight between Chael Sonnen and Mauricio Rua next weekend in Winnipeg would have been a nice way to fill the void left by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's injury. Visa issues prevented Sonnen from getting into Canada, so the UFC scrapped Rua's appearance and transferred him and the American to the main event of the Aug. 17 card in Boston. Now with two months to prepare as opposed to two weeks, I really don't expect Sonnen to do much against Rua, and I’m not so into the fight.

Recognize Sonnen’s M.O., though, because I think it's fair to call it that. When Sonnen steps up to fight on short notice, he ends up taking on the same guy at a later date. Good fortune, I suppose. But as Sonnen always says, you don't get anything you don't ask for. In and of itself there's nothing wrong with this. Yet, even with the extra time, Sonnen doesn't appear to have much hope at 205. He's a middleweight fighting a larger man's game, and that could make him more susceptible to getting hurt. Shogun Rua needs no help in this department. That's why I didn't list his fight among the best in August.

However: Since I highlighted my top 10, why not choose a favorite?

Upon further inspection (I could easily have gone several directions and no one could have argued otherwise) Sara and Sarah get the nod. Women have lived up to their billing in the Octagon. McMann is on the cusp of something big. Kaufman can rise to the top again if she handles the physical grappler.

There's a lot to like here, even for McMann's crew, who were disappointed that they didn't hear from the UFC when Cat Zingano was injured. The story line between bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and McMann needs some fleshing out, and TUF comes off as a perfect place for both Olympic medalists to take the next step. Alas, we know that'll have to happen some other way, and the first step would be McMann toppling Kaufman.

In part, I felt the need to highlight it because of just how much news poured out of the UFC last night.

Owning the news cycle

Bellator MMA had designs on owning the news cycle Wednesday, when it was set to unveil Quinton Jackson as its latest addition. Up against nothing, Jackson’s ability to stir up press is formidable. But with so much stuff breaking the night before, that’s unlikely to happen. At the very least, Jackson’s news conference in Los Angeles won’t get the kind of play it could have.

Would it be cynical to suggest all this news was released as a response to the Jackson signing?

Take it as little more than speculation, and not even the informed kind. But having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be true. Either way, this is undoubtedly part of the budding war between Zuffa and Viacom, which isn’t so cold these days.

Jackson did the smart thing by laying low for six months and allowing his deal to lapse so Zuffa couldn’t match even if it wanted to. This shouldn’t be a tough concept to grasp. Patience is key, and based on Eddie Alvarez’s experience, fighters in position to control even a little bit of destiny in their own hands is something that must be taken seriously.

Next on the list is Roy Nelson. If he beats Stipe Miocic on June 15, it’s worth watching closely to see what he chooses to do.

For what it’s worth, my personal scorecard now has Benson Henderson 1-3 in UFC title fights.

And what it’s worth, of course, is a hill of beans. In the real world, Henderson on Saturday moved to 4-0 in UFC championship bouts, tying BJ Penn’s record of three consecutive lightweight title defenses as he edged Gilbert Melendez via split decision in the main event of UFC on Fox 7.

Like a lot of people, I had Melendez taking it 48-47, thinking he stormed out to an early lead in the first two rounds, lost his momentum in the third and fourth and then rebounded to craft an ever-so-slight advantage in the final stanza. It turned out we were wrong, and the judges allowed Henderson to retain his belt on a wildly eclectic assortment of scorecards.

The crowd booed. Henderson asked his girlfriend to marry him. She said yes. They booed some more, and somewhere in there another fight between the two best lightweights in the world failed to produce a decisive victor.

The decision was not an outrage. The action here was too good and too competitive for anyone besides Melendez to be heartbroken about the outcome. The UFC’s official statistics backed up Henderson’s win and rather than continuing to doom the lightweight title to a series of equally impenetrable rematches, company brass moved quickly to say the champ’s next fight will be against the winner of the Gray Maynard-TJ Grant bout at UFC 160.

That’s fine. No argument. It may not be fair to Melendez, but after years and years of questionable decisions in MMA, we’ve been conditioned to let the close ones go. Really, we have no choice, because the alternative would do nothing but keep us up at night.

Make no mistake, however -- there is a disquieting trend developing in the UFC lightweight division, wherein it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell the winners from the losers. In a sport that places such a premium on tangible consequences and decisive results, that’s sort of a problem.

Saturday’s back-and-forth struggle was just the latest in a spate of 155-pound championship fights that have been exciting, technically exquisite and ultimately impossible to score. Dating to 2010, six of the past eight lightweight title bouts have gone to decision, many of them nail-biters. Three of those produced split verdicts and three times we saw rematches effectively put the rest of the division in limbo while we cleared up messes at the top.

Lightweight has long been regarded as MMA’s most competitive and treacherous division,and this series of ratchet-tight title fights only underscores the point. The parity is a testament to the weight class’ depth, but it also makes answering simple questions like who’s the best? and who should be champion? and even Who won? trickier than it ought to be.

At first we blamed the uncertainty on Frankie Edgar, whose diminutive stature and pesky style seemed scientifically engineered to produce close fights.

Now though, Henderson looks well on his way to establishing a similar rhythm. All seven of his UFC outings have gone the distance, as compared to just two decisions in six earlier bouts in the WEC. Officially, he’s won all seven Octagon appearances, but his pair against Edgar and now this one with Melendez all easily could’ve gone the other way.

That alone makes trying to figure out who is the best lightweight in the world a daunting task.

Henderson’s latest victory obviously means he keeps his belt and likely retains his ESPN.com Power Rankings place as No. 1 in the division and No. 5 pound-for-pound. At 19-2 overall, having matched Penn for most successful title defenses and owning wins over Edgar, Melendez and a host of 155-pound notables, any reasonable debate about who is the greatest lightweight in UFC history now also must include him.

Unless, like me, you scored both Edgar fights and the Melendez bout for the other guy. If that’s the case, then -- yes, like me -- you’ve got a real quandary on your hands.

None of this is to say anything particularly negative about Henderson, mind you. His size, speed, strength and skills still have him looking every bit like the prototype for the next generation of successful UFC lightweights. He’s a great fighter who already has defied the expectations we lowered after watching him drop his WEC title to Anthony Pettis in December 2010 in a fight that came down to yet another very close judges’ decision.

But after this weekend, am I prepared to say Henderson is better than Melendez? I am not.
Am I prepared to say he’s better than Edgar? I am not.

Am I prepared to say he’s better than Pettis or Maynard or Michael Chandler or Eddie Alvarez? No, I am not.

Truthfully, I am not prepared to say much at all about who is tops in the lightweight division right now. I won’t be until someone, anyone, does something other than eke out a controversial decision.

UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson and challenger Gilbert Melendez both made weight Friday for their title showdown in San Jose, Calif.

With everything set for Saturday's UFC on FOX 7 main event, promotion president Dana White tapped each guy's shoulder to signal they were free to go their separate ways for the next 24 hours.

But that doesn't mean it necessarily had been smooth sailing up until that point.

Melendez had no difficulty upholding his end of the deal, checking in at 154 pounds. For Henderson, however, there was a brief moment of suspense.

Before stepping on the scale, the defending champion began removing all of his clothing. Henderson instructed UFC officials to hold up a towel, shielding him from the peering eyes of excited fans.

Such action is indicative of a fighter unsure he would make the mandatory championship-bout weight limit. By removing every stitch of clothing before stepping on the scale, Henderson knew he was cutting it very close.

Fortunately, a completely unclothed Henderson tipped the scale at exactly 155 pounds, making the bout official. No harm, no foul.

Henderson has removed all of his clothing before stepping on the scale in the past. But this time he lacked his usual look of confidence, which offered a glimpse into Henderson’s fighting future as it's getting tougher for him to make the weight on a regular basis.

Never one to shy away from the issue, Henderson openly addressed it recently with ESPN.com when the topic of a superfight against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre arose. As his body continues to grow and get stronger, Henderson is under the impression that size won't be an issue if a bout with St-Pierre is made.

"I'm getting older," Henderson said. "I'm 29 now, almost 30. At my age it's getting hard for me to make the weight class at 155. So, I wouldn't mind having a break and having one fight at 170 -- having a St-Pierre fight."

While he expressed interest in the fight, Henderson made it clear he has no intention of abandoning the lightweight division. His long-term goal remains the same: to be recognized as the greatest mixed martial artist ever.

But by mentioning a fight with St-Pierre at 170 pounds, it's a way for Henderson to convey he is starting to feel the effects of cutting weight and wants to avoid diminishing his high performance level in the Octagon.

"I want to maintain my integrity," Henderson said. "I don't want to be one of those guys who cut 20 pounds of water weight and I step in the cage and look sloppy or look fat and don't perform well. I want to make sure that I am fully prepared. It's not just about making weight. It's about maintaining that strict diet, that strict lifestyle. And it gets harder and harder as guys get older -- you fill out more. And I'm getting older.

“I had the metabolism of a 19-year-old when I was 25. But now that I'm 29, my metabolism is like that of a 25-year-old. I'm still ahead of the curve, but I am slowing down. I have to work that much harder, but I can still make 155 for the rest of my career. I can do it. I'm not against doing it."

Henderson isn't making an unprecedented request. UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has competed several times at 205 pounds, which allows him to remain sharp while giving his lean body a respite from cutting a significant amount of weight.

Silva hasn't competed at 205 often -- just three times during his nearly seven years with UFC. And Henderson isn't requesting anything more than an occasional 170-pound event.

"Like the way Anderson Silva does it -- have a fight at 205 every once in a while and always make 185, his weight class," Henderson said. "I'd be okay with that -- staying at 155, making weight at 155 for the rest of my career. But every once in a while, having a super fight at 170 -- St-Pierre and I squaring off. I'd be cool with that."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gilbert Melendez’s long, winding ride to the UFC concludes Saturday, not so far from where it began.

The 31-year-old Californian, a Strikeforce lightweight champion and longtime resident of top-10 lists, enters the Octagon for the first time against Benson Henderson -- making him a rare rookie title challenger inside an arena that played host to some of his greatest moments as a professional mixed martial artist. All of this will be taking place an hour’s drive from where Melendez was introduced to the sport, on a whim, while wrestling at San Francisco State.

"It doesn't hurt that the Octagon is going to be in the HP Pavilion, where I've been plenty of times,” Melendez said. “So in some ways it's unfamiliar but in some ways it's so familiar.”

This could very well describe Melendez’s presence in MMA since 2002.

Compiling one of the most impressive outside-the-UFC résumés of any fighter in the sport, Melendez (21-2) fought at 143 pounds in Japan at a time when that meant something. Moving up to 155, “El Nino” dominated a strong contingent of contenders in Japan and the U.S. There isn’t a man he fought whom he didn’t defeat. Yet on the verge of his UFC debut -- a scenario he heavily though begrudgingly campaigned for in recent years -- Melendez is of the opinion that his numerous accomplishments don’t matter.

"This is the UFC. I'm 0-0 here,” Melendez said. “This is my coming-out party. Am I a certified fighter or not? Am I a joke or not? I could have a bad day and people would still think I'm a joke. I could lose and they'll think I'm a joke. But I have to win.

“I've stepped into rings. I've stepped in places where you can stomp on peoples’ faces and knee them in the head [on the floor]. I've been to other countries and other states with different rules. This is a different size cage, different rules, different organization, different title. So, yeah, I'm definitely walking in as a challenger."

The opportunity comes at the right time. Melendez readily admits he reached a plateau in Strikeforce, a promotion that couldn’t provide him with the kind of challenges he wanted, especially after Zuffa took control of the company in 2011.

"The politics behind Strikeforce, Showtime and UFC played with his head quite a bit,” said Gilbert Melendez Sr., a strong presence since the beginning of his son’s career.

Melendez got away with simply showing up in shape because it was his sense he was better than everyone he fought. “It hindered me not because of the talent of the people I fought, but the motivation,” he said. So his desire to improve waned as he struggled mentally with not being where he wanted to be. Among other reactions, frustration set in.

“You're Strikeforce champ, you can't be like, 'Hey, I don't want to be here anymore,' " said Jake Shields, who introduced Melendez to MMA and was similarly a Strikeforce champion before fleeing for the UFC when his contract was up. “He was getting paid, so he was happy in that sense but you could just see he didn't have any motivation. His training camps were suffering. I could see it.”

Rather than improving as a fighter, save taking the time to heal a nagging back injury, Melendez spent his days focused on his personal life, which included a fiancée, Keri Anne Taylor, and a baby girl. Melendez also opened an expansive gym in San Francisco’s warehouse district, not far from AT&T Park, where a full training camp was spent preparing for gifted UFC champion “Smooth” Henderson (18-2).

"He's on beast mode. He's ready to go,” said Nate Diaz, Melendez’s teammate and younger brother-in-arms. “I don't think there's anyone better than Gilbert in the lightweight division. This is his time.”

Diaz was the last member of Melendez’s crew to get a crack at a UFC belt, falling to Henderson on points in December.

"The thing with Gilbert is he really steps his game up for competition,” Diaz said. “When he's set to win, he wins. He does even better in fights than he does in training most of the time, and right now he's unstoppable in training. I think Henderson has his hands full."

All told, the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu team is 0-5 in UFC title contests -- a fact Melendez is keenly aware of but not consumed by. Their experience was built from the ground up, a distinctly Bay Area crew that molded itself into one of MMA’s most respected teams. All of that is undeniable and powerful should Melendez choose to call upon on it, though he knows on fight night, it’ll be just him and Henderson alone in the Octagon.

"Benson's a mixed martial artist,” Melendez said. “A lot of guys are Muay Thai guys that fight MMA. Or wrestlers that fight MMA. He uses all his tools. He's a good striker, good grappler, great submissions -- but he shines when he puts it all together. I'm also that guy, though. I'm not just a striker. I'm not just a wrestler. I'm not just a grappler. I'm an MMA fighter. I think we match up pretty evenly when it comes to that. He has some pretty good kicks but I think my hands are a lot better. Wrestling and grappling will be interesting.

“I've been thinking about this a long time. You want the respect. You want to brand yourself. You want to be be ranked. You want all that, but it's easy to put it aside. It doesn't matter: I got the opportunity.”

UFC on Fox 7 will air on free network television from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., Saturday night. In the main event, UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson will defend his title against the debuting #1 contender Gilbert Melendez, who was the final Strikeforce lightweight champion. In the co-main events, Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier will face former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and Nate Diaz faces another UFC debutant in former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson. Here are the numbers you need to know for Saturday’s fights:

6: UFC decisions to start his career for Henderson, second among active UFC fighters behind flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Henderson is the only fighter to start his UFC career with at least five consecutive decisions won.

Most UFC Decisions to Start Career, Active Fighters
Demetrious Johnson 7
Benson Henderson 6*
Diego Nunes 6
Nam Phan 6
*Won all decisions

10: Consecutive title fights for Melendez, who held the Strikeforce title from April 2009 to January 2013 when the organization was dissolved into the UFC. Melendez won four fights by decision and three by KO/TKO. His notable wins include rival Josh Thomson (twice) and DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki.

11: Wins by KO or TKO for Melendez, four under the Strikeforce banner. Henderson has been knocked down three times in his UFC/WEC career, most notably the jumping kick off the cage from Anthony Pettis at WEC 53.

9: This will be the ninth time Melendez will fight inside the HP Pavilion, the proverbial stomping grounds of Strikeforce. He is 7-1 in previous fights at the “Shark Tank,” losing the Strikeforce lightweight championship to Thomson in 2008.

21: Takedowns for Henderson in six UFC fights (3.5 per fight). Melendez has a 71 percent takedown defense but allowed a combined 13 takedowns in his two career losses (seven to Mitsuhiro Ishida, six to Thomson).

3.6: Strikes landed per minute by Melendez. During his seven-fight win streak, Melendez has outstruck his opponents 482-272 (plus-210) in significant strikes. Henderson absorbs 1.5 significant strikes per minute and only 30 in his last win over Melendez teammate Nate Diaz.

8: Mir has an eight-inch reach advantage over Cormier (79 inches to 71). That’s nothing new to Cormier, as he’s beaten Antonio Silva (82), Devin Cole (79.5) and Josh Barnett (78).

6: All six of Mir’s career losses have come by way of KO or TKO. The former UFC heavyweight champion has never lost back-to-back fights in his career. Seven of Cormier’s 11 career wins have come via strikes (five KO/TKO, two submissions due to strikes).

8: Submission wins by Mir inside the UFC Octagon, tied for second most all time. Cormier has faced only one submission attempt in his Strikeforce career (Barnett).

Most UFC Wins by Submission
Royce Gracie 11
Frank Mir 8
Nate Diaz 8
Kenny Florian 8

3: This is Mir’s first camp with Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, N.M. If he wins, Mir would be the third UFC heavyweight from Jackson’s to win in this calendar year, joining Shawn Jordan (UFC on Fox 6) and Travis Browne (TUF 17 finale).

5: Of his eight submission wins inside the UFC Octagon, five have earned Nate Diaz a UFC submission of the night bonus (second all time). Thomson has never been submitted in 25 professional fights and also has nine submission victories of his own (four in Strikeforce).

Most Submission of the Night Bonuses
Joe Lauzon 6
Nate Diaz 5
Terry Etim 4

208: Diaz landed 30 significant strikes in his title fight against Benson Henderson, 208 fewer than his victory over Donald Cerrone in two fewer rounds. Thomson will be tough to hit as well; he absorbs 1.8 strikes per minute, but did absorb 3.0 per minute in his last loss to Melendez.

Benson Henderson didn’t begin preparing for his showdown Saturday night with Gilbert Melendez a few months ago, when the UFC officially announced the fight.

That process started six years ago, when Henderson trained for the first time in mixed martial arts. It was at that moment that he took the initial step toward achieving his ultimate goal: of one day being recognized as the greatest mixed martial artist ever.

In every training session, Henderson visualized himself competing and winning fights. Sometimes he’d put a face on his imaginary foe. On a few occasions, the foe would be Melendez.

And in every one of those imaginary battles, Henderson would walk away victorious.

Although Henderson was just a wannabe mixed martial artist at the time, he never doubted that, with extra hard work, his goal could be achieved. Then he turned pro and racked up a few wins, and the visions of defeating future opponents, including Melendez -- a guy who was already manhandling some of the sport’s top fighters -- became more pronounced.

So when Henderson steps inside the Octagon to defend his UFC lightweight title Saturday night in San Jose, Calif., against Melendez -- the former Strikeforce lightweight champion -- he's sure to recall the many hours spent getting ready for this moment and those visions of having his hand raised afterward. He can take solace in knowing that his years of preparation for this battle serve as the great equalizer. Those years of training for this bout will play a part in lessening Melendez’s distinct experience edge.

Melendez began his professional career in 2002, four years before Henderson participated in his first MMA training session.

“I was in college watching him fight in Japan,” 29-year-old Henderson told ESPN.com. “I wasn’t even fighting then. He has so much more experience than me. I have so much more room to grow.

“

I was in college watching him fight in Japan. I wasn't even fighting then. He has so much more experience than me. I have so much more room to grow.

” -- Benson Henderson, on Gilbert Melendez's experience as a mixed martial artist

“When you look at my career, I’ve only been fighting for [a little more than] six years. Gilbert Melendez has 20,000 hours of boxing practice. I have maybe 10,000 hours of boxing practice. I’m OK now. But I’m nowhere near as good as I will be three years from now, four years from now, five years from now.”

Stylewise, there isn’t much that separates Henderson and Melendez. They are similar in many ways. Each possesses a strong wrestling foundation. Both are aggressive fighters who pack power in their hands and legs.

There is, however, the perception that their careers are heading in different directions. Henderson admits he is still in the learning stages. He is far from his fighting peak.

“I’m just getting started,” Henderson said recently.

It could be argued that Melendez, 31, is in his prime. He’s pretty damn good, but has had his share of very violent battles. His fight with Henderson is expected to be the latest in a long line of brutal encounters.

They are sure to leave one another battered and bruised because neither is a backward-step type of guy. In a matchup like this, between two very aggressive, hard-nosed combatants, something has to give.

When the smoke clears Saturday night, one fighter will have paid a hefty price. This is the kind of bout fans are likely to remember for many years -- the type Henderson craves.

It fits right into his master plan of one day being recognized as the greatest mixed martial artist ever. But if Henderson is to accomplish this goal, he must defeat the likes of Melendez. There can be no setback; claiming to have an off night won’t cut it.

Come up short Saturday night to Melendez and the possibility of one day being classified the greatest ever gets greatly diminished.

With so much at stake, Henderson isn’t looking past Melendez. The road to greatness, where there are no shortcuts, doesn’t allow him that luxury. It’s always going to be: defeat this great opponent, then the next and the next.

Melendez represents the current hurdle, albeit one that has been visible for many years. This isn’t just another title fight for Henderson, however -- none is, at this point; it’s the latest block that’s necessary to build his legacy of greatness.

“There is a much bigger picture,” Henderson said. “Too often people forget about the bigger picture and focus on the little things. And they forget about the bigger picture, the master plan.”

Henderson never removes his eyes from the big picture. His destiny is at stake each time he steps in the cage, and Saturday night is no different. He vows not to stumble; he’s had more than enough time to get ready for this showdown.

“Life is like a roller coaster, you’ll have ups and downs,” said Henderson, the former WEC champion who works diligently to never again taste defeat in a title fight. “Every time I step into the Octagon, I want to be fully prepared as a champion emotionally, spiritually, physically.

“I’m fighting Gilbert Melendez on Saturday night. I’ve been preparing six years for this.”

In 2013, the year of the “superfight” and new-fashioned division jumping in the UFC, anything is possible.

How possible? A simple, timely text can shake up an entire division for the better part of a year. Ask Ricardo Lamas, who should have been the next featherweight for Jose Aldo if Anthony Pettis, ten pounds and 1,000 decibels his superior, wasn’t the quickest Blackberry draw in the Midwest.

When Dana White got the buzz that night, it played out like this: Merit, shmerit. This game deals in duckets.

Imagine that: Diaz-Ellenberger is the potential title fight nobody is talking about.

Now Pettis-Aldo is slated to take place in far-off August. Jon Jones versus Anderson Silva has been speculated about for New York (or Brazil [or Dallas]) in November (or December), even though Silva is fighting Chris Weidman in July, and Jones has a fight with Chael Sonnen in April. Apparently Sonnen can be looked right past to the “superfight” everybody wants. In fact, Jones/Silva is the only true superfight right now that is super enough to make rational people superstitious. Nobody wants to jinx it, except a couple of pesky wrestlers who stand in their way.

Then there’s UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who is talking about bouncing up to welterweight to face Georges St-Pierre, even though he has a fight with reigning Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez this spring, and GSP fights Nick Diaz next weekend.

That idea has since been shot down by White but, what, is Melendez a hologram? It used to be that media and fans were always thinking two steps ahead. Now the fighters are, too? This is fantastic. (I have to admit -- it’s fun to align in such foolish behavior!).

At least the scenarios get simpler from here, so let's look ahead. On March 16, at UFC 158, the welterweights will come into focus. It’s really black and white. The three top fights on the card are 170-pounders. St-Pierre, who we are assured has a dark chamber in his psyche that nobody (especially that inconsiderate Nick Diaz!) can possibly fathom, headlines the event.

All revolves around him beating Diaz. If he defeats Diaz he could fight anyone from Johny Hendricks to Carlos Condit to Jake Ellenberger to Silva, this summer, this fall, or this winter. The line snakes around the block. Hendricks more than deserves the shot, particularly if he beats Condit that same night. He has been deserving for what feels like years. If Hendricks and St-Pierre both win, that fight seems obvious.

In 2011, maybe. In 2013, not so fast.

That’s because people like Silva and Henderson happen to exist. Though Silva is now booked to fight Weidman at UFC 162, he can't help but still hover over St-Pierre in 2013. Now with a new contract, it's possible he courts that St-Pierre fight sooner rather than later. St-Pierre would have to be coaxed into agreeing, of course, which is never a given.

In other words, even if all goes to plan and both GSP and Hendricks win, Hendricks could find himself on the outside looking in. Yet again. If that were the case, maybe Hendricks could fight Rory MacDonald next, who was scrapped from the card when he got injured. He was supposed to face Condit.

And speaking of Condit, he could emerge as a dark horse in the St-Pierre sweepstakes. If he takes care of No. 1 contender Hendricks, he has some ammo. After all, the first fight had that fleeting moment when Condit came unnervingly close. And if Diaz pulls the upset over St-Pierre and somehow makes it out of Montreal in one piece, same thing -- Diaz-Condit II is viable (unless the fight results in a scorecard nightmare and St-Pierre/Diaz II has to be played back immediately). If Condit wins and somebody texts Dana White to jump the line to GSP, you’ve still got the Condit-MacDonald vendetta to sort out. No scenario is without a silver lining.

There are other factors. Ellenberger is on the card fighting Nate Marquardt, who two years after trying to debut at 170 pounds in the UFC finally gets his chance. One of them -- namely Ellenberger -- could factor into this title discussion, too. Much like an 8-7 NFL team heading into the final regular season game in a tight Wild Card race -- Ellenberger is mathematically alive, but needs help. He needs an emphatic showing and some smiling fortune, such as Johny Hendricks losing. The UFC might jump him to the top to avoid rolling back Condit-GSP II too soon in that case (even though Ellenberger lost to Condit narrowly in 2009). Unless Diaz wins, that is, and Condit faces a long medical suspension in victory.

Imagine that: Diaz-Ellenberger is the potential title fight nobody is talking about.

What’s at stake come March 16 in this makeshift welterweight grand prix? Feels like plenty. But in 2013, “what’s at stake” has turned into a versatile question. There is no obvious answer. And if you ask White beforehand, you’re likely to get his go-to response for most things yon: We’ll see what happens.