When Benson Henderson expertly jabbed Nate Diaz's leg to set up a massive left-hand

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson faced off against UFC star Nate Diaz in a memorable title fight back in 2012.

Henderson and Diaz headlined UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on December 8, 2012. 'Smooth' was defending his lightweight title for the second time and was matched up against the in-form Diaz, who was on the back of three straight wins.

Henderson employed an unconventional approach in the second round of the fight by targeting Diaz's knee not with leg kicks, but rather with an unusual right-hand jab. After multiple jabs to the knee, he drew Diaz in for a huge follow-up left hand that left the Stockton native reeling and knocked him down for some subsequent ground and pound.

Check out his knee jab and follow-up left hand below on Reddit:

Ben Henderson jabbing Nate Diaz’s leg to set up a big left hand byu/BoxCon1 inMMA

However, the extensive set-up did not earn Henderson the knockout. He did go on to win the fight after five rounds of a dominant performance via unanimous decision. He would go on to defend his title one more time before losing it to Anthony Pettis at UFC 164.

Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz both aren't a part of the UFC anymore with Henderson leaving in 2016 and Diaz in 2022.

Check out the full fight highlights on YouTube below (2:18 for knee jabs):

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Michael Chandler responds to Nate Diaz's UFC 300 call-out

Nate Diaz has not fought in a mixed martial arts setting since his last fight in the UFC against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279.

Diaz fought and lost a boxing match against Jake Paul but is yet to even sign with an MMA promotion. He expressed his interest in the upcoming historic UFC 300 card in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

He wrote about the lack of opponents:

"UFC 300 would be tight but there’s nobody to fight."

Check out Nate Diaz's post on X below:

Michael Chandler was quick to respond to Diaz's post and stated that he would like to take on the former UFC man. He also alluded to his matchup against Conor McGregor that never materialized after their coaching roles in The Ultimate Fighter's latest season. Chandler posted:

"Hold tight. I’d love to crack your jaw. Things are still unclear with that former fighter who is masquerading as a real fighter 📞."

Check out Chandler's post below: