Going down at the Apex on Saturday is the final Ultimate Fighting Championship event of the year, UFC Vegas 45. The show is headlined by a big heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus. Also on the card in the co-main event are welterweights Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad. Raoni Barcelos was supposed to fight Trevin Jones earlier in the night, but Jones withdrew. Now newcomer Victor Henry steps in to fight the surging Brazilian.
Victor “La Mangosta” Henry
Standing at 5’7″
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
34-years-old
Fighting out of Los Angeles, California, US
Training out of UWF USA
A pro record of 21-5
6 KO/TKOs, 8 Submission’s
How will Henry fare in the UFC:
A prodigy of MMA legend Josh Barnett, Henry is one of your more experienced prospects and comes with accolades including winning titles for promotions like Deep and SFL America. Outside of MMA, Henry was a Billy Robinson Absolute champ in Catch Wrestling and competed at the Eddie Bravo Invitational. Throughout his career, Henry has fought good competition and only twice has fought someone with a losing record.
On the mat is where Henry excels. On top or bottom, he’s a major threat. Working off the bottom many times Henry is still the aggressor looking for submissions and openings. In his guard, he’s shown his fluidity and flexibility throwing up gogoplatas to create scrambles. “La Mangosta” thrives in scrambles and once on top he is just as dangerous with his ground and pound, mainly with his elbows. It’s all about the work ethic as Henry is constantly working and looking for the finish.
While striking isn’t his strong suit it’s something that’s improving with time. He doesn’t have knockout power but his placement is solid. Henry can be counted on to throw volume and does a good job mixing in some body strikes. Once he gets loose, as the fight goes on, his volume can really pay dividends. Something that is overlooked when it comes to Henry would easily be his kickboxing. He’s not really the flashy type, with the occasional spinning attack. He stays conventional and has an excellent left kick to the body. Henry is fantastic at ending combinations with leg kicks and can do it over and over. Henry also throws the front kick up the middle to maintain the pace.
Henry is a good counter striker but at times his head sits on the center-line. He has good footwork but isn’t the quickest fighter. He’s definitely respected on the feet but on the feet against a good striker it will be smarter for him to wrestle. As said above, the clinch can be both good and bad for him. That’s because many times he gets tripped up and ends up on his back. Henry is no doubt excellent on the mat but has lost in fights featuring mainly grappling.
Striking: B
Kickboxing: B+
Clinch: B-
Wrestling: B-
Grappling: A
Striking Defense: C+
Takedown Defense: C
Cardio: A
Biggest Strength: Grappling
Biggest Weakness: Striking defense
How he matches up with Barcelos:
Barcelos is a stud and has been for a number of years. The only thing holding him back has been his inability to keep active. Henry is a UFC level fighter but against Barcelos, it’s going to be a steep hill to climb. No matter where Henry wants to take this fight Barcelos is better. This fight will probably be very competitive but Barcelos should cruise here.
