Benson Henderson (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Rustam Khabilov may not be a top ten ranked lightweight, and will be the underdog at UFC Fight Night 42 on Saturday, but it sounds like Benson Henderson is taking the Russian fighter very seriously.

The former lightweight champ was asked for his thoughts on Khabilov during the latest episode of “UFC Tonight”, and here is some of what Henderson had to say (quote via FOX Sports 1):

“He’s a great Sambo guy, a world class wrestler. Any time you’ve got two great grapplers going at it, it can end up being a stand-up war. We’re ready for anything, a lot of grappling or a stand up war, just throwing a lot of bombs.”

The 30 year-old Henderson (20-3), who is coming off a split decision win over Josh Thomson in January, also confirmed that initially, he thought he was agreeing to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Sadly that’s a true story. I saw a Tweet and I saw a Russian name and I thought it was Khabib Nurmagomedov because they had a hard time finding him an opponent.”

Khabilov (17-1) has gone 3-0 since joining the UFC in 2012, and most recently earned a decision win over Jorge Masvidal.

UFC FN 42 will be hosted by the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.