This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Benson Henderson Turns 32

Benson Henderson has held titles in the UFC and WEC. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight titleholder Benson Henderson will celebrate his 32nd birthday on Nov. 16.

A protégé of Royce Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt John Crouch, Henderson operates out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz. He has compiled a 10-3 record since arriving in the UFC in April 2011, including wins over Frankie Edgar (twice), Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Jim Miller and Josh Thomson. “Smooth” last fought at a UFC Fight Night event in February, when he moved up to 170 pounds, submitted Brandon Thatch with a fourth-round rear-naked choke and successfully rebounded from consecutive losses to Donald Cerrone and Rafael dos Anjos. A taekwondo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Henderson was a two-time All-American wrestler at Dana College, an NAIA school in Blair, Neb.

Henderson will return to the Octagon, once again as a welterweight, at UFC Fight Night “Henderson vs. Alves” on Nov. 28, when he serves as the headliner opposite Thiago Alves in Seoul.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of November:

NOV. 1
Larry Ray (38)
Manabu Inoue (37)
Will Dicke (30)

NOV. 2
Cub Swanson (32)

NOV. 3
Anthony Ruiz (38)
Mackens Semerzier (35)
Gasan Umalatov (33)
Darrell Montague (28)

NOV. 4
Rustam Khabilov (29)

NOV. 5
Tamdan McCrory (29)
Andrew Huffman (26)
Amir Khan (21)

NOV. 6
Demian Maia (38)

NOV. 7
Curtis Stout (42)
Ivan Jorge (35)
Eric Albright (29)

NOV. 8
Thiago Tavares (31)
Makwan Amirkhani (27)

NOV. 9
Mike Russow (39)
Sean Salmon (38)
Andre Winner (34)

NOV. 10
Josh Barnett (38)
Katsuaki Furuki (35)
Francis Carmont (34)
David Michaud (27)

NOV. 11
Leandro Silva (30)
Lucas Martins (27)

NOV. 12
Aaron Brink (41)
Lee Murray (38)
Rudy Bears (37)
Thiago Silva (33)
Jorge Masvidal (31)
Arianny Celeste (30)
Emmanuel Rivera (29)

NOV. 13
John Hosman (35)
Jared Hess (32)

NOV. 14
Stephen Bass (33)
Justin Gaethje (27)
Shannon Wiratchai (27)

NOV. 15
Dylan Andrews (36)
Lisa Ellis (33)
Josh Shockley (26)

NOV. 16
Delson Heleno (38)
Patrick Cummins (35)
Benson Henderson (32)
Nicolas Dalby (31)
Tatsumitsu Wada (27)
Yusuke Kasuya (26)

NOV. 17
Emi Fujino (35)
Daniel Stittgen (35)
Dong Hyun Kim (34)
Ildemar Alcantara (33)

NOV. 18
Masanori Kanehara (33)
DeAnna Bennett (31)
John Teixeira da Conceicao (29)

NOV. 19
Gerald Harris (36)
Taro Kusano (32)

NOV. 20
Rickson Gracie (57)
Gan McGee (39)
Chris Camozzi (29)
Kevin Pearson (29)
Delaney Owen (23)

NOV. 21
Mikhail Ilyukhin (49)
Rodney Wallace (34)
Marat Gafurov (31)
Karl Amoussou (30)
Clint Hester (29)
Thiago Santos (29)
Jorge Lopez (27)

NOV. 22
Edilberto de Oliveira (33)
Daniel Weichel (31)

NOV. 24
Mike Goldberg (51)
Mitch Clarke (30)
Josh Hill (29)

NOV. 25
Rob Smith (44)
Mauricio Rua (34)
Alan Jouban (33)

NOV. 26
Ediane Gomes (35)
Derek Boyle (31)
Jose Rodriguez (30)
Ruslan Magomedov (29)

NOV. 27
Satoru Sayama (58)
Homer Moore (44)
Brian Ebersole (35)
Ryan Jimmo (34)
E.J. Brooks (30)
Lukasz Sajewski (25)

NOV. 28
Shane Howell (32)
Patrick Walsh (27)

NOV. 29
Ricardo Almeida (39)
Costas Philippou (36)
Michal Fijalka (32)
James Hammortree (32)
Jamie Yager (32)
Max Griffin (30)

NOV. 30
Jutaro Nakao (45)
Josh Koscheck (38)
Luke Caudillo (35)
Diego Nunes (33)
Klayton Mai (29)
Ivan Cole (25)