Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis talk conspiracy theories heading into UFC 164

To many MMA fans, it seemed a bit too convenient that Anthony Pettis injured his knee and withdrew from a fight at UFC 163 against featherweight champ Jose Aldo, only to be cleared in time to rematch Benson Henderson one month later at UFC 164.

Even Pettis will admit the scenario sounds too good to be true. The now-lightweight title challenger can see why conspiracy theories abounded after No. 1 contender T.J. Grant injured his knee and was forced from the Aug. 31 fight and the new matchup was announced. But he said it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.

“Fans don’t see the training that goes into these fights,” Pettis told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) during a conference call in support of UFC 164, which takes place at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. “Injuries happen; they’re part of the game.

“My injuries were legit, and from what I know, T.J. Grant’s injuries were legit,” he added.

Pettis (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) suffered an injury to his meniscus while training for Aldo that necessitated time off, but not surgery. A UFC doctor later cleared him to fight Henderson (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC).

“Showtime” wasn’t the only one seeing tinfoil hats among the sport’s devoted. Henderson already was used to being questioned at every turn. Having won several razor-thin decisions that kept the belt around his waist, he knew the drill.

“On my part, there’s always going to be conspiracy theories with everything,” said Henderson, who won the UFC belt more than one year ago with a decision over Frankie Edgar. “There’s a lot of crazy circumstances behind a lot of that stuff, but it is what it is.

“But once I found out the fight was happening, I was excited for it. It’s what I’ve been waiting for for awhile. It’s fine by me.”

Henderson, of course, lost to the WEC lightweight title to Pettis via decision in the promotion’s final event three years ago. The setback served as a catalyst for his title run, which has seen him defend his belt three times.

Another person who wasn’t complaining was UFC President Dana White, who was relieved that an injury withdrawal led to another marquee matchup instead of a best-we-have consolation. But even before Grant he announced Pettis vs. Henderson 2, he heard from conspiracy theories that the promotion would never give the relatively unheralded Canadian his proper due.

“It’s just that the way that it worked out was crazy, but finally something worked out in my favor, where guys get hurt and good fights are still made,” he said.

Grant, who was forced to withdraw due to a concussion suffered in training, also took to social media to declare that nothing fishy was going on.

“Sorry all you conspiracy theorists,” he wrote. [Dana White and the UFC] did not and could not pay me any amount of money to step aside.”

Henderson said the work of overzealous fans does, in the end, keep the sport vital.

“There’s armchair quarterbacks,” he said. “It’s good, though. It helps the sport and keeps people talking about it. But sometimes their reasoning and imagination, they can get a bit out there, yeah.”

The champ and the challenger can only hope, then, that the lightweight title rematch leaves nothing to the imagination.

For more on UFC 164, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Benson Henderson)