Maria Henderson is one-for-one inside the cage.
Henderson (1-0 amateur), the wife of former UFC lightweight champion and current Bellator fighter Benson Henderson, defeated Amanda Mitchell (0-1 amateur) by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) Friday.
The amateur strawweight fight served as the card-opening bout at LFA 100.
Despite having a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, Henderson, 28, displayed her striking abilities throughout the fight. In Round 1, both fighters gave and took damage. A southpaw like her husband, Henderson displayed an effective body kick. Mitchell countered consistently with a right hand.
Round 2 began with more striking. Eventually, the MMA Lab’s Henderson clinched and landed knees against the fence. This came much to the delight of Benson, who served as his wife’s lone cornerman for the fight. Upon the break, Mitchell was visibly gassed. The two fighters exchanged until the end-of-round horn.
At the beginning of Round 3, Henderson engaged the clinch immediately. Once separated, both fighters, despite their visible exhaustion, pushed themselves to continue exchanging until the final bell – both absorbed big shots.
Check out Maria Henderson’s MMA debut from LFA 100 in the video below.
LFA 100 took place Friday at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. The main card streamed on UFC Fight Pass after prelims on Facebook.
