Trading Shots: Is Benson Henderson on to something with media criticism?

In this week’s Trading Shots, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes and former UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes look at Benson Henderson’s strong post-fight words for the MMA media.

Fowlkes: Danny, the main event of UFC Fight Night 42 saw former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson do something that he hadn’t done since his WEC days: Win a fight without help from the judges.

Henderson dropped Rustam Khabilov with punches, finished him with a choke, then immediately walked over toward press row and started yelling at media members. As he explained at the post-fight press conference, he’s on to our “tricks.” And by tricks he means, I don’t know, leading questions?

I have to confess, I’m not sure I get it. So let me ask you, Mr. Retired Fighter, do you relate to this one-sided rivalry Henderson seems to have with the MMA media? Is he imagining things, or giving voice to something a lot of fighters feel, but don’t express?

Downes: I don’t think the MMA media can claim complete innocence on this one. You only needed one sentence to give a backhanded compliment on Henderson’s latest win. Luckily, my years of Catholic school will come in handy.

Generally speaking, there are sins of commission and sins of omission – commission being an overt, purposeful one, whereas a sin of omission is the failure to do something. Ben Henderson’s displeasure with the media stems from the latter much more than the former. I think that he feels unappreciated. He consistently fights the best in the division and wins. He defended the UFC title multiple times and was never fully embraced.

Fighters may say they don’t care about the opinions of media and fans, but that’s only half the story. They only don’t care about their opinions when they’re negative. When fans and media are heaping praise and affirmation, you better believe we all love it. When you think about it, they’re not that different from writers. Whenever somebody says something positive about an article, many media members make sure they retweet the kudos. If someone has criticism, though, they’re misinformed or don’t know what they’re talking about.

Now, you don’t need fighting or writing experience to critique what you consume. You have to admit that it does help, though. How do you feel when people criticize your articles? I know you make sure to avoid comment sections, but there’s no way you can insulate yourself completely. How do you feel when the ignorant masses don’t understand your prose?

Fowlkes: I don’t feel anything anymore, Danny. I’ve been writing for the Internet for nigh on a decade now, so I’m officially dead inside. It’ll happen to you, too. Just wait and see.

As for Henderson, is it really such a backhanded compliment to point out the facts? That was the first time in four years that Henderson put an opponent away inside the distance, and it’s not like he hasn’t fought a bunch of five-rounders during his tenure in the UFC. He’s logged plenty of minutes inside the octagon, as we were reminded on the broadcast, and won kind of an inordinate number of split decisions. I don’t think it’s unfair for people to question what that means about his style or his approach.

At the same time, I don’t really blame him for getting upset about that. You look at his record and you see that his decision wins have come against a lot of guys who just don’t get finished. A little frustration with that narrative seems reasonable, even if people aren’t going to stop saying it just because you don’t like hearing it.

What struck me as odd was his comment about media members trying to get him to say certain things.

“A lot of times, your guys’ job is to tell a story and say this and say that, and you want us to say this and say that. … ‘Hey, Piotr Hallman, say this.’ You give your questions a certain way. … So I’m on to your guys’ tricks, trying to get us to say this and say that, and I just want to reiterate, I do my talking inside the octagon. So if any story you want to write, anything you want to say, judge it off my time inside the octagon.”

Call me crazy, but isn’t that what we’ve been doing, is constructing our idea of Henderson based on what he does in the octagon, which, before Saturday night, was win very close decisions? We don’t have many other options. I’ve interviewed the guy before, and he doesn’t give you much to work with at all. It’s cool to be the guy who does his talking inside the cage, but if that mode of expression keeps coming across as one close fight after another, do you really get to act surprised when that’s what people write about? It’s either that or toothpicks, man. And I think we’ve covered the toothpick thing at this point.

Downes: “Is it really such a backhanded compliment to point out the facts?” Um … yes. Something can be factually true and still an insult. I’ll give you an example. This past weekend I was out camping at Camp Pendleton with some guys for my brother-in-law’s bachelor party weekend. At the end of the night we were sitting around the fire and talking about the Albuquerque fights. Things then transitioned to a discussion about my own fight career. There was one member of the group who was quite opinionated and stated what he thought about my UFC tenure/performances. Needless to say, it was not very positive.

Objectively speaking, he had a couple of points, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them. Can I (and other fighters) be overly sensitive? Absolutely. That doesn’t mean that others can’t be off base with their criticisms, however. Everyone thinks they’re an expert. Just because you played football in high school, it doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to be in the NFL. Your tae kwon do black belt, jiu-jitsu experience or hours of watching fights don’t mean you understand what it’s like to be a UFC fighter.

I can already hear the comments in my head. “I’ve never been shot, but I know that it probably hurts,” or some equivalent. True, you don’t need to suffer a gunshot wound to know that it’s a bad thing. But would you say that you have the same understanding of the pain as someone who has? Like it or not, fans and media don’t understand elements of fighting that competitors do. That’s not to say it’s better or worse, it’s just different. Benson Henderson dedicates hours and hours to his craft. Then, in 140 characters or less, all his work can be diminished. How would that make you feel?

Fowlkes: Again, that has happened to me, just with a different craft and on a much smaller scale, but no, I don’t like it. No one does. I know I’ve reacted poorly to it in the past, though I think it’s something you get better at with experience, which is to say that your ego-armor thickens to the point where neither praise nor criticism can penetrate quite so deeply. You run out of the energy to get pissed off, at a certain point.

And I get what you’re saying about fighters bristling at the criticism from non-fighters. Thing is though, I don’t think they like it any better when the person doing the criticizing actually does have proven experience in the field. Just ask fighters-turned-commentators like Kenny Florian, who’ve taken some blowback from other fighters who felt the sting of someone else’s opinion. It’s the criticism they don’t like. Attacking the source is just a way to feel better about it.

When it comes to MMA articles on the internet, it’s also important to remember that those aren’t written for fighters – those are for fans. Fighters usually have to seek them out to even know what they say, which isn’t something I’d recommend, for much the same reason I stay out of the comments section. It doesn’t do you much good to expose yourself to that, because you’ll always dwell on the negative and skim over the positive. And, like a friend of mine says, the cost of wondering what other people think is finding out.

But before we stray too far off topic, let’s remember how all this started. Henderson wanted to be left alone to do his talking in the cage, and he didn’t really want to hear anyone’s opinion on his finishing rate. At the same time, wasn’t his boss just flipping out over Renan Barao largely because he’s a monster who finishes people? Don’t we all agree that, whether for fans or media or Dana White himself, stuff like that matters? And how about Dana White, who’s never had an MMA fight in his life? Who’s he to criticize pro fighters when he doesn’t know what it’s like to be one?

Henderson gets to express his opinion on it just like anyone else, and the way he’s chosen to do so has honestly made him seem more interesting outside the cage (oh, the irony). But if what he wants is to never have to give interviews or face criticism from people who don’t know as much about his business as he does? Brother, he’s in the wrong line of work.

Downes: True, the cost of working in the public eye is that your work is open to public criticism. That includes the knowledgeable, the ignorant, and those damn “haters.” We can say that’s the cost of doing business, but we often use that excuse to divorce ourselves from responsibility. It’s like the guy who’s overly rude to his waitress and justifies it by saying, “It’s my money so I can say whatever I want!”

Fighters are people, too (ugh, I can’t believe I said something so incredibly hokey). This doesn’t mean they’re beyond reproach, but it’s an important thing to remember. We try to tell them that it’s “just business,” but they don’t see things that way. As a fighter, you can’t divorce the personal from the professional. Even if they have Fowlkes-ian level ego armor, the pain still penetrates. There’s a reason you chose writing as a profession. You received some type of personal or emotional satisfaction. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t all about the paychecks. As much as you claim otherwise, the personal elements of your career are forever entwined with the business side.

The same applies to fighters. MMA isn’t just a job, it’s a passion. Very few are able to achieve success without an emotional investment. Henderson knows that and that’s why he’s been at the top of the lightweight division. Another thing to consider is that maybe Henderson is so upset because the criticism hits so close to home. Isn’t that true for all insults? The ones that hit closest to home are the one we react the most strongly against.

Henderson doesn’t go to the judges’ scorecards on purpose. He’s going out there every fight trying to knock someone out or submit them. Unfortunately, he went through a 10-fight drought where he couldn’t get the finish and lost his title twice. He has a nice guy image, but even nice guys get frustrated and angry. He used that anger as a motivator and directed it toward the media. Certain media members felt unfairly accused and here we are. Fans will read this article and direct their anger accordingly. The chain of screaming continues.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 42, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.