MILWAUKEE, Wis. Meet Benson Henderson: conspiracy theorist, but not Illuminati; business owner, but not businessman; mixed martial arts champion, but not beloved. <\/p>\n
The UFC lightweight champion is one of the sport's most engaging, complex and misunderstood figures. <\/p>\n
He gets derided for his lack of finishes, though if he beats Anthony Pettis on Saturday at the Bradley Center in the main event of UFC 164, Henderson will set a record for most consecutive successful lightweight title defenses. <\/p>\n
He's the co-owner along with his friends John Crouch and Joe Ervin of a highly successful gym, The MMA Lab, in Glendale, Ariz., but takes great pains to stress he's not a successful businessman. <\/p>\n
Henderson, who once was so poor that he had to mop the floors and clean the toilets of the gym he now owns, has a unique theory on business success. <\/p>\n
\"I don't want to be a good businessman, because I think businessmen are low-down, dirty dogs,\" Henderson told Yahoo! Sports late Wednesday before one of his final workouts. \"You can be a good businessperson, but to be good at business, I think you inherently have to become somewhat of a dirty dog. I don't want to be a good businessperson, but I do want to have good, successful businesses. For the Lab being a good, successful business, I am happy about that.\" <\/p>\n
He landed in Arizona by accident, following Crouch, his best friend and longtime coach, and former UFC fighter Alvin Robertson to the desert. <\/p>\n
[Anthony Pettis' coach: 'This must be what it was like to coach Michael Jordan'] <\/p>\n
When Henderson arrived in Phoenix, he had little but what he could hold in his bag. He didn't live day-to-day; he pretty much lived hour-to-hour. <\/p>\n
The MMA Lab was under different ownership, and Crouch moved there to teach classes and train fighters. The then-owner agreed to allow Henderson to train for free and to have unpaid access to all of the facility's coaches in exchange for some manual labor. <\/p>\n
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\nIt's no conspiracy: Benson Henderson has worked to become one of UFC's best<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"