Benson Henderson no longer competing with his infamous toothpick out of concern for his kids: ‘I’m worried about them copying me’

Parenthood is among the best duties any particular person can face — and it seems that with 4 younger kids at dwelling, Benson Henderson has put aside a few of his wayward habits.

Henderson, the previous UFC and WEC light-weight champion, is well-known for combating and coaching with a toothpick in his mouth. The habit first came to light during his lightweight title defense in opposition to Nate Diaz in 2012, and regardless of Henderson catching flak for it from Dana White and others, he continued doing so for a while, with the toothpick making a notable reappearances in his bouts with Brandon Thatch and Jorge Masvidal in 2015. However now that he has youngsters of his personal, “Clean” says he’s doing his greatest to drop the behavior.

“I attempt to not have the toothpick anymore,” Henderson mentioned on The MMA Hour. “It was only a unhealthy behavior. I attempt to not. I all the time advised my mother that it was as a result of I noticed my dad with a toothpick in his mouth, so then I might copy him and be 7, 8, 9 years outdated working round with a toothpick in my mouth and he or she’d be all scared, ‘Oh, take it out!’ Then once I had my oldest [child], I envisioned my 6-year outdated, 5-year outdated, 7-year outdated son working round with a toothpick in his mouth and I used to be deathly afraid. Like, ‘No! You possibly can get actually damage!’

“That’s why I attempt not to try this complete toothpick factor, simply because I’m anxious about them copying me. So I attempt to not.”

It’s a sensible choice from Henderson. Whereas not expressly forbidden beneath the Unified Guidelines of MMA, competing with a pointy object in a single’s mouth nearly definitely constitutes a real security concern that athletic commissions would deem unacceptable, and even Henderson himself has admitted to some dangerous instances with the toothpick previously, although on the time he was nonetheless intent on conserving it.

Henderson lately re-signed with Bellator following a cut up determination win over Islam Mamedov. He’s scheduled to face Peter Queally on September 23 at Bellator 285.