SEATTLE — Benson Henderson has made a concerted effort to improve as a public speaker and become more comfortable with cameras, microphones, and recorders in his face as journalists seek answers to questions ranging from relevant to ridiculous, and pertinent to perplexing.
His opponent on Saturday night, Nate Diaz, stands in stark contrast to the UFC lightweight champion. Though he’s more receptive with reporters than his older brother Nick, the younger Diaz still stands uncomfortably in the centre of a scrum, dripping out answers in two- and three-word bursts at times at points as he scans the room for an exit strategy or something else he’d much rather be doing.
Though they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to dealing with the media, there is a great deal of respect between the two when it comes to matters inside the cage.
“I’m a fan of Nick and Nate,” Henderson said of the Stockton, Calif., siblings who will have each fought for UFC gold in 2012 as of Saturday night. “The way they bring it? They’re awesome. If you talked to the entire UFC roster and took a poll asking who their favourite fighter is, there is an 80 per cent chance they’re going to get mentioned because people like their fighting style. I like their fighting style.”
“He’s a legitimate, athletic, tough fighter,” Diaz offered of the lightweight champion following his time on the mats during Wednesday’s open workouts. “(He’s) somebody you definitely have to be careful for, and somebody that is definitely going to come in shape, ready for a fight. I’ve seen him do some good things.”
While not as effusive and direct as Henderson’s praise of his opponent (and his older brother), being called a legitimate tough fighter by a Diaz is about as good as it gets, especially considering how dismissive the 27-year-old title challenger can be at times. Asked about Caio Terra, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion who caused waves within the Cesar Gracie Fight Team by working with Carlos Condit in advance of UFC 154, Diaz simply said, “I don’t even know who that is,” and moved on.
Watch Saturday’s UFC on Sportsnet: Henderson vs. Diaz, starting with the televised undercard at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, followed by the four-fight main card at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. A bonus early preliminary fight is expected to appear on Sportsnet.ca at about 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT.
In addition to the mutual respect they have for each other, the two main event combatants have taken similar paths out of the shadows to arrive at the top of the lightweight division.
Henderson sits atop the lightweight world as a proud WEC graduate, standing as a reminder to all those who dismissed the 155-pound competitors who fought in “The Other Zuffa Organization” prior to those fighters being brought into the UFC fold in January 2011.
A former winner of The Ultimate Fighter (Season 5) and a long-tenured UFC competitor, Diaz hasn’t had to battle through the stigma of coming from another organization like Henderson. Instead, he’s had to deal with something familiar to anyone with siblings.
Because they are alike in so many ways, Nate is constantly compared to Nick, and as one of the most popular and polarizing fighters in the sport today, big brother can cast a pretty imposing shadow. For some, frequently being measured against the accomplishments of their siblings can be frustrating, though the younger Diaz embraces being linked and likened to his big brother.
“I’m representing for Nick too — we’re the same name, same team,” Nate replied when the subject was brought up on Wednesday. “I just want to do well. I don’t care about his shadow. To be in Nick’s shadow, I think he’s the best fighter in the world. I’m glad I have him being my brother, and my training partner.”
In addition to their fighting styles and demeanors being similar, Nate also follows in his brother’s footsteps when it comes to his propensity to talk trash before, during, and after his fights.
While Nick has delivered the more memorable lines — “Don’t be scared, homie!” and “So we’re throwing spinning s— now?” stand as two of his best — Nate holds the lead when it comes to poses and gestures inside the cage.
After locking up a tight triangle choke on Kurt Pellegrino, the younger Diaz mugged for the camera, flexing his biceps before offering a two-finger salute to everyone watching. In his fight with Donald Cerrone, Diaz gave the former WEC standout the “double birds” as they prepared to stride into the centre of the cage to start the third round of their UFC 141 encounter. This came after the two got testy during the pre-fight press conference staredown when Diaz flipped Cerrone’s cowboy hat off his head.
It’s an inescapable part of fighting a member of the Diaz family, and something Henderson actively prepared for during his training camp.
“All my training partners — (Efrain) Escudero, Joe Riggs, Daniel Madrid from down in Phoenix — they were all talking crap to me. It was weird,” admitted the lightweight champion with a laugh. “I’m a little bit used to it, but at first it was like, `What did you say to me?’ We’re in the middle of a fight, we’re in the middle of sparring, and you’ll be like (feigns being confused), and then you’re like, `Oh, right. OK’ and try to work on staying focused, doing my game plan, and not be concerned about `Your mama’s so fat.’
“Against the Diaz Brothers, I think the majority of their opponents do (get sucked in and thrown off by the talking),” opined Henderson. “Nine out of 10 of their combined opponents have done that. The only that hasn’t was Carlos Condit, and you saw how that worked out. For some reason, you’re in the middle of a fight, they say something, and you’re like, `What’d you say to me? How dare you!’ and then they get all mad and throw a flying knee from five feet away. Why would you do that? And the Diaz Brothers are good enough to capitalize on that and score from there.”
Henderson knows he’ll hear some chirping from Diaz on Saturday night, and is focused on dealing with the physical attacks coming his way, not the verbal jabs. The way the champion sees it, the trash talk and single-finger salutes have nothing to do with him anyway.
“All of us fighters are emotional people; the Diaz Brothers just show that in a different way. To me, it’s less about disrespecting their opponent as it is about getting themselves worked up. The Diaz Brothers do it a certain way; I do it another way. I don’t think it’s disrespecting another fighter though.”
While they differ on the trash-talking front, the dueling lightweight combatants count a few similarities between them, and it’s that mutual respect and dedication to get to this point that should make this a tremendous fight.
