it takes a VILLAGE to train a fighter...

it's true for children and it's true for fighters as well...anyone who says otherwise must be just the best fighter to ever grace this planet or something...i have a bunch of people to thank and give mad props to, sorry if this gets to be a bit redundant to you guys but these are some really important and special people in my life, who without their help and tutelage i couldn't be what and who i am today...

as always, first and foremost, gotta give HIM HIS, who sits most high, our LORD and SAVIOR, thank YOU for blessing me everyday of my life and even though i'm a sinner and fall short of deserving YOUR love and blessings YOU do so anyways...it blows me away YOUR depth for compassion, forgiveness and love...

to my family, my mother, brother and soon-to-be wife thank all of you for putting up with my stubborn self, i love you guys and cherish you beyond description, i'm gonna make it because of what you guys have been sacrificing for me for years now...

john crouch, i love you and value your friendship and tutelage above all others, i've enjoyed the journey so far with you and look forward to many more years of us growing together...

jason beck, thank you for having the vision and strength to actually make it happen in allowing us fighters the opportunity to shine, without you who knows how this journey would've turned out...

jarret aki props to you for getting my lazy butt up and training hard when i don't necessarily want to, you're the secret sauce buddy...

jason genet thank you for believing in me and giving me a shot to prove myself, lets go get you your belt back...

to all my training partners at the LAB thank you guys for all your hard work, blood, sweat and tears...you guys more than anybody else know how hard this fighting thing is that we're silly enough to try and make a career out of, thank you for pushing me and driving me and reminding me, when i need it, how bad i want this...you guys are next, the world's soon gonna know the names of CHRIS GRUETZEMACHER, VICTOR MEZA, and CHARLIE BROWN, let's start taking over the world one fight at a time...to EFRAIN ESCUDERO make sure you put it down jan. 11th against evan dunham, let's show the world where some of the best 55'ers in the game train out of...

to MTXaudio thank you guys for your fiscal support and everything, i couldn't be living this dream of mine without you guys, thanks for taking a chance on a young buck who no one's heard of before...

to my other coaches, andy russell and georgie garcia thanks for all your guy's sacrifice and effort in training my sorry butt, i know i can be a slow learner at times so thanks too for your patience and time, like i said give me a few more years and the world is gonna be ours...

i know i do this sort of thing before every fight and while every blog post is a little different, i'm thanking a lot of the same people and everything but i suppose that right around fight time, when it's about time to dance, i can't help but think of all the people who've helped me get to this stage and prepare, i don't want to let them down as badly as my innate desire is to WIN, i walk into that cage every time knowing that there's a literal whole small village of people behind the scenes who made this possible for me, i want to perform up to my very best to honor their sacrifice/effort/time/work...and it goes way back too, not just to my current coaches and training partners but to my very first wrestling coach in junior high, coach olsen, who made me want to prove to him that i could be tough enough to wrestle and make the team even though i've never stepped on a mat before...to my high school coach, mike bressler, who dared me to not only high standards on the wrestling mat but to do more with my life and get out of federal way, to use wrestling to my advantage throughout life...i don't know if either of my old coaches will ever read this or if they ever think of the impact they actually had on me and the man they helped me grow into but i'd like to definitely put it out there and hope that one day they will stumble across this somehow and see how they've affected me and since there's no way i could really ever repay them use this as a simple way to say, THANKS...the list could go on and on for a LONG time but for now i'll give a few more quick shout-outs and leave it at that...

leister bowling
chris egan
anthony byers
steve costanzo
darold foster
mr. nordstrom
mrs. brazier
mr. knapton
coach mike olson
ernie abariotes
trevor carritt
chris williams
wynn fangmeier
ryan trotter
alvin 'kid' robinson
jane hensley
bryon bruce
tommy owen

and of course to all my FANS, you guys are amazing, i don't mean to be self-aggrandizing but i think i have some of the best and NICEST fans in all of mma, i truly mean it when i say that this is too HARD a sport to do with out a ton of love and support, here's to a happy january 10th everyone...


GOD bless...

your friendly neighborhood cage-fighter,
benson