Sherdog Prospect Watch: Victor Henry

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When some mixed martial artists start fighting professionally, their goal is to fight in a major organization such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA or the World Series of Fighting. However, that is not what drives bantamweight prospect Victor Henry. Instead, he finds his motivation in the desire to take on the best competition, no matter which promotion supplies it.

“I really don’t have a goal when it comes to organizations,” said Henry, who trains under former Shooto champion Erik Paulson and onetime UFC heavyweight titleholder Josh Barnett at CSW in Fullerton, Calif. “They come and go. It just happens that the UFC is biggest right now. I want to be the best at my weight and beat everybody in my class, whether it’s in the UFC, WSOF or wherever. The best is who I want to fight, and I want to beat them at bowling, Pokemon or in a fight. Organizations don’t matter. I want to put my skills against their skills. Belts are cool, but it’s not what started it for. I started this to test myself and be the best. Whether that’s in one organization or another, that’s what I want to do.”

Regardless of what organization in which he may be competing, Henry believes his immediate future lies in the bantamweight division.

“[The] 135 [weight class] is where I should be,” he said. “I walk around at about 150 to 152 pounds, and the thing is, I have a naturally high metabolism. Cutting weight isn’t easy, but I take it for what it is. I’m not going to cut 30 pounds, though, and try to go to 125. It sucks because I like food, but the weight cut doesn’t kill me. I still have to beat the man the next day, even after the weight cut. It’s sucky, but it is what it is.”

Henry has been testing his skills overseas of late. In February, he nailed down the most significant victory of his career when he tapped out former Shooto 132-pound world champion Masakatsu Ueda with a kneebar in the third round of their Grandslam MMA bout in Tokyo. Henry gives all the credit for the opportunity to fight in Japan to Barnett and Paulson, who took him in while he was still an amateur fighter.

“I have to give all the props for that to Josh,” said the 27-year-old, who has seven finishes among his 10 professional victories. “He’s taken a lot of time with me and made me his apprentice. He turned me pro, because the fight before that, I lost an amateur fight and my team disbanded. He called me and told me to come to CSW. Two weeks after I started there, he told me I was fighting pro in a month. I didn’t know if I was ready. Ever since then, he’s been in my corner.

“Josh has a huge influence in Japan, and ever since I’ve been watching fights, I watched him in Pride [Fighting Championships],” he added. “I thought it’d be awesome to travel and fight overseas. Southern California is the mecca of mixed martial arts everywhere, but I really wanted to go to Japan. Josh made his name over there. Paulson made a name for himself over there, too, so me fighting there is a way of me honoring them.”

Henry made his Japanese debut in July following the only loss of his career -- a split-decision setback to Joe Murphy three months prior. He faced 62-fight veteran Hideo Tokoro at a Grandslam MMA event and knocked out the Japanese journeyman 1:52 into the second round, raising many an eyebrow and igniting his current four-fight winning streak. Henry admits fighting in Japan is quite different than doing so in North America, especially as it relates to the atmosphere.

“The fans are really quiet over there,” Henry said. “Here, people are yelling and screaming and you can feel the energy. Over there, I’m fighting in the cage and I can hear one guy say something out loud. You can hear one guy in an entire arena. [Barnett] is cornering me, and it’s like he’s talking to me during practice. The other thing is that everybody’s very respectful. Bushido is a big part of their culture. Win, lose or draw, they’re always behind you. They understand what’s going on in there.

“Here, when somebody gets a knockout, people celebrate the winner,” he added. “There, they celebrate both sides. They even have a thing where they just say, ‘Do your best’ rather than ‘Good luck.’ It’s refreshing.”

Henry followed his submission against Ueda with a split decision victory over Taichi Nakajima at Pancrase 267 on May 31 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. It marked his first appearance inside the venerable Japanese organization.

“It’s a huge honor to fight in Pancrase,” Henry said. “Other than to represent myself and my team, Josh and [Paulson] have a lot of history there. It’s a very cool thing. I never thought growing up that I’d be able to go to Japan, and now to be able go out there and show my skills is pretty amazing. It means a lot. My coaches took the time to get me there, so it means a lot to have this opportunity.”