Video: Benson Henderson says move to 170 pounds 'smart decision'

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson still isn’t ready to commit to further contests at 170 pounds, but as UFC Fight Night 60 nears, he admits he likes the way he’s feeling.

“The open workout was a lot better than it normally is,” Henderson told MMAjunkie at Thursdays’ UFC Fight Night 60 open workouts. “I usually come in here tired and grumpy and sad. … When you’ve actually got a little bit of food and calories behind you, it just feels better. I’ll do open workouts all day long – no problem.

“Pros and cons weighing in at 170. Those are one of the pros: the week of fight feeling pretty good. I’ve got to make sure I continue that feeling when I get into the octagon though. That’s the important part.”

Henderson is coming off of a disappointing string of two defeats, including a controversial January loss to Donald Cerrone. When UFC officials announced Henderson was moving up to 170 pounds to face Brandon Thatch in the headlining bout of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 60 even in Broomfield, Colo., it seemed as if “Smooth” might be making a bit of an emotional decision in hopes of quickly putting the losses behind him.

But the 31-year-old insists nothing was decided without careful contemplation of the potential risks and rewards.

“I am a relatively smart fighter – kind of intelligent,” Henderson joked. “But you can’t just willy nilly, ‘I’ll fight everybody.’ Some guys do that early in their career, and they’re not as developed as they could because they had five fights at 170 when they walk around at 147 pounds. It’s just not smart. Tough guys, lot of heart, but you’ve got to be smart in your career.

“I think I’ve been relatively smart in my career. I think this is another smart decision. We weighed the pros and cons. We thought about it. We were looking to do a fight at 170 to put our toes in the water and see how it goes, and this was a good opportunity to do it.”

UFC Fight Night 60 takes place at 1STBank Center. Six main-card bouts (10 p.m. ET) and four preliminary bouts (8 p.m. ET) air on FOX Sports 1 following a lone preliminary bout to stream on UFC Fight Pass (7:30 p.m. ET).

Check out the video above to hear more from Henderson, including how he feels about his relationship with the media, how he dealt with the shock and frustration of his loss to Cerrone and why he thinks fighters meeting with judges before each event could provide some valuable change to the sport.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 60, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.