Soon former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will not be the only professional MMA fighter in his household.
At LFA 135 on July 8, Benson’s wife, Maria Henderson, will make her professional MMA debut following an undefeated amateur run of 3-0. The strawweight bout against Melanie McIntyre takes place at Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix and streams on UFC Fight Pass.
For Maria, everything felt right to make the jump to the professional ranks.
“For us, the timing made sense,” Maria said on Inside LFA with Ron Kruck. ” I was growing, I was able to stay in the gym, stay healthy, and it’s summertime with the kids. We don’t have to worry about a bunch of crazy schedules. … It just felt like it was the next step for us and we felt like I was ready to go pro.”
Standing across the cage from Henderson (0-0) will be McIntyre (0-0), who is also making her professional debut. McIntyre went 3-2 as an amateur fighter, but has experience across other combat sports disciplines. While Benson has nerves while his wife competes, he knows that all of the work and preparation has put her in a good place to be successful inside the cage.
“We work our butts off,” Benson said. “We absolutely work our butts off, so when it’s time for the test, we’re not worried. We’re not scared about it. We’re not nervous for the test. You know, everyone in high school has those things where they’re scared for this test. They go into algebra or whatever like, ‘Oh, I’m not ready for it.’ … Some of us, we have the other side of it where you walk into the math class and you’re ready for the test, not sweating at all, no worries at all. We know that we’re going to ace it. We know the ins and outs of the test. We could write the test for you, take it forwards or backward, no worries.
“When that happens, when our preparation is on point, we know we don’t need to be nervous about anything. She knows that and she’s been well-prepared for all of her fights so far and we’re going to make sure that happens for all her future fights as well.”
Check out the full interview with the Hendersons in the video above.
