Twitter reacts to Benson Henderson fighting with a toothpick in his mouth – again

Benson Henderson

Benson Henderson’s win over Brandon Thatch in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 60 headliner will serve as one of the defining moments of his career – a moment when the former UFC lightweight champion moved up to welterweight to take on a man who would be a good-sized middleweight and survived a powerful attack en route to a dramatic rear-naked choke victory.

Aside from the trademark display of heart, Henderson (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) also brought back another of his classic hits: He appears to have fought with a toothpick in his mouth.

The screenshot in this tweet was taken as Henderson popped up from submitting Thatch (10-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC):

The toothpick story really got its start following UFC on FOX 5, where “Bendo” beat Nick Diaz and was seen with a toothpick in his mouth during the fight.

Henderson discussed it at the post-fight press conference for that fight.

“I cannot confirm nor deny that,” he said with a sly grin. “I normally do. I have been through practices – and when I spar, and when I fight. It’s a bad habit, but whatever. I have gotten away with it so far.”

UFC Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler followed that up by stating that he was “pretty sure Ben made it clear he was joking.”

The toothpick made it’s return as a discussion point when one appeared to pop out of Henderson’s mouth as he was knocked out by Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 49:

With it seeming clear that Henderson had a small piece of wood in his mouth once again, it will be interesting to see if the Colorado Office of Boxing and the Boxing Commission takes any action or if future commissions will take steps going forward to prevent what has to be seen as a considerable safety issue.

Several fighters reacted to the reemergence of the toothpick following the bout:

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 60, check out the UFC Events section of the site.