Taekwondo gives Henderson edge

By Cho Mu-hyun

Ben Henderson, Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion, said Wednesday that learning taekwondo, a Korean martial art, gives him the edge that other competitors don’t have.

“I incorporate taekwondo into my MMA (mixed martial arts) fight style,” said the 29-year-old who recently beat Frankie Edgar in Japan to win the lightweight belt, at a press conference held in Sangam-dong, Seoul. “(But it is) the discipline, the mental thing that helps the most.”

“Smooth” Henderson, mostly called “Kimchi Fighter” by fans here, called the nickname “fitting” and that he was a “big fan” of the traditional Korean pickled cabbage. He is known for his strong affection for his mother Kim Song-hwa’s home country, shown in his multiple tattoos in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.

“I got ‘strength’ and ‘honor’ because when I pray, the first thing I do when I wake up, those two are what is important to me and lacking in society today,” he said. “It is two things I ask to God.

“Koreans are a proud people. I have a lot of pride inside of me and I was proud of the heritage. Growing up, a lot of my friends called me black and (when they did) I told I am black and Korean. I always wrote in black and Korean when they asked me to fill a form that said ethnicity,” he added.

Henderson now has a 15-2 record after his bout with Edgar. But one of the losses was against rival Anthony Pettis.

The Korean-American expressed his hunger to avenge his loss to Pettis, and gave a warning to any challenger attempting to dethrone him.

“Lightweight is my title. It will be my title until I retire, I am not going anywhere else,” he said.

“I am down with that (match against Pettis). By all means let’s do it. Set a date, I think there is a long line of guys who want to fight because of the belt, probably everybody in the UFC. Strategy (against Pettis)? To beat him up. I owe him that,” he said, promising that his belt’s permanent residence will be his waist, and no other.

Mark Fischer, executive vice president and managing director of UFC Asia called Henderson “Son of Korea.” Also at the conference, Fischer said that he was positive of UFC’s success in Korea.

“I think including Ben, there will be more (Asian-Americans), but not just them but from Latin America, England and elsewhere. I think we have the most potential to grow because we accept all weights and classes. All sizes and races,” he said.

The press conference was followed by a near hour-long autograph session, where Korean fans of the fighter stood in long queues for a moment with the champion.