Background and career
Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Lightweight division for Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. He is considered one of the greatest lightweight MMA fighters of all time and is tied with B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar, and Khabib Nurmagomedov for the second-most UFC lightweight title defenses.
Benson Henderson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to a Korean mother and an African American father. He has an older brother, Julius, who was born in South Korea. He was raised in Federal Way, Washington. When Henderson was approximately nine years old, his mother, Song-Hwa (née Kim), insisted that he take Tae Kwon Do lessons with his brother. "She's Korean, I'm half-Korean, and it's the traditional Korean martial art, so she wanted us to do that to get a little bit of the culture and tradition," he says. Both Benson and his brother attained black belts in Tae Kwon Do. He attended Decatur High School from 1998 to 2001. While in high school, Benson became a part of the wrestling team. In 2000 Benson's junior year of high school, Benson qualified for the state wrestling tournament at 125lbs but did not place. In 2001 Benson's senior year of high school, Benson qualified for the state wrestling tournament at 135lbs placing 2nd. After graduating from high school, he attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska and graduated in 2006 with a double degree in criminal justice and sociology. While attending Dana College, Henderson was on the wrestling team, and was twice named an NAIA All-American. Benson placed 5th at nationals in 2005 at 157lbs, after losing by 1 point in his semifinals match. Benson placed 5th again in 2006 at 157lbs.
Henderson turned professional in 2006, winning his first match against Dan Gregary. He lost his third fight to Rocky Johnson via technical submission. However, this defeat was a minor setback. He rebounded with four straight wins before facing his toughest fight yet, against a UFC veteran, Diego Saraiva. Henderson came prepared as he dominated Saraiva for three rounds, winning a unanimous decision and his 7th professional win.
Three months later, Henderson made his World Extreme Cagefighting debut on January 25, 2009, at WEC 38 against Anthony Njokuani. Henderson defeated Njokuani with a guillotine choke early in round two. Henderson faced Shane Roller on April 5, 2009, at WEC 40. Henderson won the bout via first-round TKO.
Henderson was given an opportunity to fight for the Interim WEC Lightweight Championship against Donald Cerrone when lightweight champion Jamie Varner was unable to defend his title due to an injury. The fight took place on October 10, 2009, at WEC 43. Henderson won an exciting back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision. Both Henderson and Cerrone were awarded with an additional purse of $20,000 for Fight of the Night. The bout was also awarded 2009 Fight of the Year for all of MMA by Sherdog.com
Henderson faced Jamie Varner to unify the WEC Lightweight Championship at WEC 46 on January 10, 2010. After being outboxed and outwrestled in the first two rounds, Henderson came back and caught Varner in a standing guillotine choke ending the fight at 2:41 of the third round. Henderson had his first title defense in a rematch with Donald Cerrone on April 24, 2010, at WEC 48. defeating Cerrone via guillotine choke in the first round. The win earned him a Submission of the Night bonus award. Henderson faced Anthony Pettis on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53. Henderson lost his title by unanimous decision. The fight won Fight of the Night honors.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
