BROOMFIELD — Brandon Thatch’s body is long like a bean stalk but built like a bag of hammers. He’s a confusing contradiction of fighter. He’ll set up on the right side right before slamming a strike from the left.
So Benson Henderson, out-sized by half-a-foot, had a puzzle to figure out in their Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight main event Saturday in front of 5,807 fans at the FirstBank Center in Broomfield.
Henderson had a revelation. If he could chop the 6-foot-2 Thatch down to six inches high, he might have a chance.
And that’s what the former lightweight champ did. Henderson dragged Denver’s Thatch to the mat in the fourth round, negating Thatch’s striking and forcing a submission with a rear naked choke hold at 3:58.
“He’s a big dude,” Henderson said. “I didn’t want to just stand there with him.”
Arizona’s Henderson (22-5), who won and defended a lightweight title five times between 2012-13 — including a victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 in Denver in 2012 — returned to Colorado fighting for the first time at welterweight.
And he did it just 28 days after losing to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in Boston.
“I’m kind of tired. But sometimes you have to test yourself,” Henderson said. “I didn’t know if I could win this fight.”
Henderson’s self-doubt was a healthy self-assessment after the first two rounds. Standing 5-9, he started by trying to chop down Thatch with low kicks.
But Thatch countered with a kitchen sink of different looks — switching to southpaw, unloading impressive right-left kick combinations, pumping up knees out of nowhere. Thatch dominated the first two rounds. At one point, he paired a knee to the Henderson’s gut with a kick to his ribs and it sent Henderson flailing to the fence.
“He’s got the heart of a champion, said Thatch, who dropped his record to 11-2. “I thought I had him in the first two rounds with power.”
Thatch was a constant aggressor. He pounced early in the second after landing a hard kick, looking for strikes to the face. But Henderson slipped an escape. And, with his long hair flailing around as it escaped a tie, Henderson proved top be wily. He wriggled out of three near-barrages on the mat in the second round.
Henderson was no dummy. He drew Thatch into a ground clinch in the third, wrapping around him from the bottom position and nearly gaining a choke hold. They spun around and Henderson popped off punches from near in, swelling both of Thatch’s eyes. And Henderson nearly caught him in a leg choke before the round ended.
The third round belonged to Henderson. He dragged Thatch down again and set up a perfect position for the fight-ending choke.
“I let him get a lot closer than I should have,” Thatch said. “I let my confidence get the best of me.”
Thatch headlined a UFC card for the first time in a burgeoning career. He sat through shoulder and toe injuries for 14 months, but returned to an unusual matchup — with a significant size advantage and a chance to catapult into the 170-pound contender rankings.
Thatch accepted the fight against Henderson on short notice, two weeks ago after Stephen Thompson dropped out with an injury. But after a long layoff, he was eager to fight.
“I would’ve stepped up and fought my mom. And she’s scrappy,” Thatch said.
Henderson, who was born in Colorado Springs and nearly became a Denver police officer before turning pro in MMA, was fighting at 170 pounds for the first time. But he was no stepping stone.
“I haven’t really paid attention to underdogs for a long time,” Henderson said. “I really can’t over-emphasize this: Every fight you have is the most important fight of your career.”
Henderson and Thatch won $50,000 fight of the night bonus awards. Denver’s , won performance of the night honors.
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke
