On Saturday, May 11, UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter season eight winner Efrain Escudero will take on vale tudo legend Jorge “Macaco” Patino at Max Sport 13.2 in São Paulo.

Along for the trip with Escudero is UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. Henderson is one of Escudero’s training partners at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz.

Fresh off his UFC on Fox 7 title defense against Gilbert Melendez on April 20, Henderson spoke with The MMA Corner’s Aline Baktchejian Djehdian about Escudero’s title fight, the next defense of his own title and his first visit to Brazil.

What are your thoughts on this fight for Escudero?

“It’s a fun fight for Efrain. I’m there every day with him. He beats me up a lot. I’m happy to see him beat up somebody else besides me.”

What do you think about Brazil?

“Brazil is awesome. I’ve been wanting to come for a long time now. I’m fan a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, açaí, all the food. I’m having a great time so far. I’m excited to see Effy put some work in.”

What are your thoughts about your next title defense?

“We’ll have to see who wins the Gray Maynard-TJ Grant fight [at UFC 160 on May 25] and then we’ll get ready for them.”

Would you ever want to fight in Brazil?

“I have a ton of Brazilian friends back home in Phoenix actually. Plus all the fans. I appreciate all of their support. I hope some day I can fight in Brazil.”

Photo: UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson (Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)

About The Author

Aline Bak
Staff Writer, Brazil

A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Aline began watching MMA with her father during the heyday of Pride in the early 2000's. Her passion for the sport soon turned to the UFC not long after. After attending UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro and UFC 146 in Las Vegas, Aline was asked to recount her experience for Tatame—one of Brazil's biggest media outlets—and thus began her writing career. In addition to her work for The MMA Corner, she maintains her own site about MMA.