6. Benson Henderson
The cornerstone of the John Crouch-led MMA Lab outfit in Glendale, Arizona, Henderson won 19 of his first 21 professional bouts and got his hands on promotional gold in World Extreme Cagefighting and the UFC. A two-time NAIA All-American wrestler at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, “Smooth” holds the rank of black belt in taekwondo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Henderson burst on the scene in the WEC in 2009 and took hold of the lightweight title less than a year later when he disposed of Jamie Varner with a first-round guillotine choke. Though a loss to Anthony Pettis at WEC 53 slowed his momentum, the Colorado Springs native was far from finished. Henderson moved to the Ultimate Fighting Championship as part of the WEC merger in 2011 and rattled off wins against Mark Bocek, Jim Miller and Clay Guida before dethroning 155-pound titleholder Frankie Edgar in a five-round unanimous decision at UFC 144 on Feb. 26, 2012. He went on to defend the belt three times, first in a rematch with Edgar and then against longtime Cesar Gracie stablemates Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. Henderson relinquished his spot atop the division to Pettis in 2013 -- he was victimized by a “Showtime” armbar -- and later left the UFC for Bellator MMA, where he has since fallen short in title fights at 155 and 170 pounds.
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