Benson Henderson understands Melendez's shoulder chip before UFC on FOX 7

Gilbert Melendez may believe he has something to prove on Saturday. And if that’s the case, Benson Henderson has been there, done that.

Melendez (21-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his octagon debut at UFC on FOX 7, crossing over as the Strikeforce lightweight champion with an 11-1 record in the now-shuttered promotion. He meets Henderson (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), the UFC champ for the past 14 months, for his title in the FOX-televised main event at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

It’s somewhat relatable territory for Henderson, who two years ago was getting ready to make his UFC debut after a similar crossover from the WEC, where he was the lightweight champion until that promotion’s final event, when Anthony Pettis took the title from him.

Henderson and the rest of the WEC’s lightweights faced criticism and skepticism about whether they could live up to the standards set by their UFC counterparts. Doing his part to prove the WEC fellas could more than hang in the UFC, Henderson has gone 6-0 on his way defeated Frankie Edgar for that title, defended it in a rematch, then defended it again with a dominant 25-minute win over Nate Diaz in December.

So if Melendez steps in Saturday trying to fly the Strikeforce flag as a means to prove those fighters weren’t second-class citizens to their UFC brethren, Henderson gets it.

“I guess I understand what he’s saying and where he’s coming from,” Henderson told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “But I don’t think that gives him an edge one way or another. It can put a chip on your shoulder, but a chip on your shoulder is oftentimes as bad as it is good for you. I’ve been there, and those same questions he’s answered are the same questions I answered when I was in the WEC. So I understand his perspective.”

Henderson isn’t afraid to admit he carried a chip with him after the WEC-UFC merger. A significant one, even.

“I had a very big chip on my shoulder – I won’t even lie to you,” he said. “I had a very large chip on my shoulder.”

But he’s backed that up so far. And he’s done so as one of the UFC’s most active champions despite putting in more cage time than just about anyone else.

All three of Henderson’s title fights have gone the distance – that’s 15 rounds and 75 minutes over the past 14 or so months. In an ideal world, he’d get another win on Saturday and get right back in there.

“I’m OK with that,” he said. “I don’t mind that at all. I like to have performances where I don’t get too beat up and don’t take too much punishment. I’m OK doing three or four times a year. That’s fine by me.”

Not taking punishment, he attributes to a a cerebral style under head coach John Crouch at the MMA Lab in Phoenix. Sure, he’s had a few moments of barn-burning, such as in his title eliminator fight against Clay Guida at UFC on FOX 1. But mostly, he’s thrived on a pattern of marching forward, but still managing to miss out on most of the damage the man across from him wants to dish out.

Against Edgar, the first win a unanimous decision at UFC 144 followed by a split-decision in their rematch at UFC 150, Henderson believes the two weren’t a match made in fight-style heaven. His win over Diaz in December maybe was a different story – as could be the fight against Melendez.

“Stylistically, (Edgar and I) matched up well in that I would get my hand raised and win, but we did not match up well in that it wasn’t the most exciting exchanging for the entire 25 minutes,” Henderson said. “It was more like a very elusive cat-and-mouse. Nate and I were a great stylistic matchup. He’d walk forward, I’d walk forward, and who’s the better man? Let’s find out.

“Gil and I are going to be the same way. He likes to move forward and push the action and the pace. I like to be that guy also. He likes to walk forward, I like to walk forward, and we’re going to throw down.”

Melendez believes he may have some kind of an edge against the champ. After all, he long has been a collaborator with Diaz and was one of his cornermen against Henderson.

But that’s not much of a concern for Henderson, who said he always is working to mix new wrinkles into his game.

“Every fight, I always try to get better and improve,” he said. “I end up bringing in new techniques here and there, and this fight’s no different. Even though he watched 25 minutes of me against Nate Diaz, I’m going to be that much better and that much more well-prepared with new tricks I’ve been working on since then.”

Henderson says this with the same type of calm he somehow has managed to keep since his days in the WEC, before many people knew who he was. Getting into the UFC didn’t seem to change how he goes about his life in the fight game and outside of it. Winning the title didn’t seem to change him much.

So one more championship win probably won’t mean much difference there, either.

“I like to think I’m the same,” he said. “I’m the same boring loser I am now that I was before. I don’t always do a whole lot. There’s definitely more attention, more cameras, more interviews, all that sort of stuff. But it doesn’t really affect my day-to-day life. I’m the same dork as I was before.”

Just a dork who hopes to add one more title notch on his belt come Sunday morning.

For more on UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.