HonestElo
← welterweight

Benson Henderson "Smooth"

Inactive · age 42 · Southpaw · 5'9" 175 cm · 170 lb 77 kg · reach 70" 178 cm
At a glance
  • 3 successful title defenses
  • Earned a bonus in 3 of last 5 fights
  • UFC veteran since 2011
Elo rating
1612
Global Elo 1660 ±37
Rank
—
—
UFC record
11-3-0
KO 0 · Sub 2 · Dec 9
Streak
+2
Δ90d -33 · Δ1y -33
Last fight
Nov 28, 2015
Win by Decision · R5
Career at a glance
Octagon time
4h 12m
Avg fight time
18:02
Title fights
4-1
Bonuses
4
Fights per year
3.1
Ground control
1h 5m
Since last fight
10y 7mo

Honest Elo history

14 fights · tap & drag
Apr 30, 2011 — W vs Mark Bocek Δ+34Aug 14, 2011 — W vs Jim Miller Δ+39Nov 12, 2011 — W vs Clay Guida Δ+30Feb 25, 2012 — W vs Frankie Edgar Δ+45Aug 11, 2012 — W vs Frankie Edgar Δ+38Dec 8, 2012 — W vs Nate Diaz Δ+18Apr 20, 2013 — W vs Gilbert Melendez Δ+10Aug 31, 2013 — L vs Anthony Pettis Δ-30Jan 25, 2014 — W vs Josh Thomson Δ+11Jun 7, 2014 — W vs Rustam Khabilov Δ+13Aug 23, 2014 — L vs Rafael Dos Anjos Δ-23Jan 18, 2015 — L vs Donald Cerrone Δ-16Feb 14, 2015 — W vs Brandon Thatch Δ+13Nov 28, 2015 — W vs Jorge Masvidal Δ+12 1400145015001550160016501700 2012201320142015 [{"i":0,"x":90,"y":353.9,"elo":1453,"date":"2011-04-30","opp":"Mark Bocek","result":"W","delta":34},{"i":1,"x":135.6,"y":312.2,"elo":1492,"date":"2011-08-14","opp":"Jim Miller","result":"W","delta":39},{"i":2,"x":174.4,"y":280.4,"elo":1522,"date":"2011-11-12","opp":"Clay Guida","result":"W","delta":30},{"i":3,"x":219.5,"y":232.7,"elo":1566,"date":"2012-02-25","opp":"Frankie Edgar","result":"W","delta":45},{"i":4,"x":291.8,"y":192.5,"elo":1604,"date":"2012-08-11","opp":"Frankie Edgar","result":"W","delta":38},{"i":5,"x":343.1,"y":173.5,"elo":1622,"date":"2012-12-08","opp":"Nate Diaz","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":6,"x":400.3,"y":163.4,"elo":1631,"date":"2013-04-20","opp":"Gilbert Melendez","result":"W","delta":10},{"i":7,"x":457.5,"y":195.9,"elo":1601,"date":"2013-08-31","opp":"Anthony Pettis","result":"L","delta":-30},{"i":8,"x":520.8,"y":184,"elo":1612,"date":"2014-01-25","opp":"Josh Thomson","result":"W","delta":11},{"i":9,"x":578,"y":170,"elo":1625,"date":"2014-06-07","opp":"Rustam Khabilov","result":"W","delta":13},{"i":10,"x":611.2,"y":194.5,"elo":1602,"date":"2014-08-23","opp":"Rafael Dos Anjos","result":"L","delta":-23},{"i":11,"x":674.9,"y":211.2,"elo":1586,"date":"2015-01-18","opp":"Donald Cerrone","result":"L","delta":-16},{"i":12,"x":686.5,"y":197,"elo":1600,"date":"2015-02-14","opp":"Brandon Thatch","result":"W","delta":13},{"i":13,"x":810,"y":183.8,"elo":1612,"date":"2015-11-28","opp":"Jorge Masvidal","result":"W","delta":12}]

Last fights

Elo-based expectation · not betting advice
Date Opponent Result Δ Elo
Nov 28, 2015 Jorge Masvidal W +12
Feb 14, 2015 Brandon Thatch W +13
Jan 18, 2015 Donald Cerrone L -16
Aug 23, 2014 Rafael Dos Anjos L -23
Jun 7, 2014 Rustam Khabilov W +13

Performance

SLpM Significant Strikes Landed per Minute. Higher = busier striker.
Strikes Landed
L1L3L5
Str Acc Striking accuracy: significant strikes landed / attempted. Higher = more efficient striker.
Strike Accuracy
L1L3L5
SApM Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute. How often opponents land on this fighter. Lower is better.
Strikes Absorbed
L1L3L5
Str Def Share of opponent’s significant strike attempts that miss or are blocked. Higher is better.
Striking Defense
L1L3L5
TD / 15 min Takedowns landed per 15 minutes (one full 3-round fight). Measures wrestling output.
Takedowns
L1L3L5
TD Acc Takedowns landed / attempted. Higher = cleaner entries.
Takedown Accuracy
L1L3L5
TD Def Share of opponent takedown attempts stuffed. Higher = harder to put on the mat.
Takedown Defense
L1L3L5
Sub / 15 min Submission attempts per 15 minutes. Counts attempts, not just finishes — a proxy for grappling aggression.
Submission Attempts
L1L3L5
Ctrl / 15 min Control time in seconds per 15 minutes. Time in dominant grappling positions. 240 = 4 min, the realistic high-end across divisions.
Control Time (sec)
L1L3L5
KD / 15 min Knockdowns landed per 15 minutes. Counts every flash KD even if the fight continued — measures stopping power across all rounds, not just finishes.
Knockdowns
L1L3L5
Above division avg (intensity ∝ how far)
Near avg (±10%)
Below division avg

Finishes

How wins come Finish rate = (KO + Submission wins) / total UFC wins. Measures how often this fighter closes the show before the scorecards.
18%
2 / 11
Finish rate
KO
0
0% of wins
SUB
2
18% of wins
DEC
9
82% of wins
KO: 0 (0%) Sub: 2 (18%) 2 Dec: 9 (82%) 9
Finishes by round
2 total
R1
R2
R3
R4
2 100%
R5

Striking profile

Where significant strikes land — by target zone and by position. 826 landed total · career

Targets head · body · leg
44% Head
  • Head 44%
  • Body 30%
  • Leg 26%
Positions distance · clinch · ground
63% Distance
  • Distance 63%
  • Clinch 19%
  • Ground 18%

Durability

How they're beaten How fights end AGAINST this fighter. Finished-against rate = (times KO'd + submitted) / total UFC losses. A low rate means they rarely get stopped.
67%
of losses by finish
2 of 3 · usually R1
1 KO/TKO 1 Sub 1 Dec

Strength of schedule in UFC

Avg opp Elo (last 5) Average Elo rating of the last 5 opponents this fighter faced. A proxy for schedule difficulty — 1700+ is elite-level competition, 1500 is a UFC average opponent.
1614
Contender level
Quality wins (1600+) Wins over opponents rated 1600+ Elo at the time of the fight — clearly above the ~1500 UFC average, contender tier. A count of genuine quality results, not record-padding.
5
of 11 UFC wins
Toughest win The highest-rated opponent this fighter has a win over, by that opponent's Elo at fight time.
Frankie Edgar
Elo 1688 at fight time
Expected wins How many wins an average fighter would be expected to have against this exact schedule, based on pre-fight Elo win probabilities. The line below shows whether this fighter is over- or under-performing their matchups.
7.7
+3.3 wins above what this schedule implies
Opponent Elo over career · 14 UFC fights, oldest → newest
1559
1602
Notable wins
Frankie Edgar ×2 1688 Jim Miller 1663 Nate Diaz 1647 Jorge Masvidal 1602

Top welterweight

See full rankings →
Islam Makhachev C
#1 · Elo 1802
Kamaru Usman
#2 · Elo 1691
Shavkat Rakhmonov
#3 · Elo 1679
Michael Morales
#4 · Elo 1671
Ian Machado Garry
#5 · Elo 1669
Source Raw fight data and per-bout statistics come from Benson Henderson on UFCStats →. Elo rating, uncertainty bands, and division-relative analytics computed by HonestElo — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.