Charles Bennett: “I’m the Horse”
Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett has been around the fight game for
quite some time. He's practically seen everything, said everything
and fought every type of fighter there is. He's quite the character
both inside and outside the cage, as anybody who has ever had to
deal with Bennett will attest.
Whether it's sitting on the turnbuckle during fights, scoring highlight reel knockouts or bragging about how strong his arms are due to his "self-help" tendencies, one can rest assured that Krazy Horse will be remembered, or at least make people scratch their heads in bemusement.
Sure, the lightweight isn't one of the greatest fighters on the planet but he knows how to sell himself anyone that will listen, and he has a superior talent for burrowing like a tick underneath the skin of his foes.
Bennett is a man of many words, though sometimes it's hard to fully comprehend what it is he's trying to say. Maybe it's purposeful, part of his shtick; maybe it's because his platinum-plated teeth get in the way; maybe he just doesn't have an oral filter. Either way, it's fun to catch up with Bennett, clearly one of the sport's most intriguing fighters, a mixed martial artist analogous to an "Upside Down Flint Rubble Double Bubble Cake" … it sounds and looks good, but what exactly are the ingredients?
Sherdog.com spoke with Bennett about three hours before his official weigh-in for Saturday's fight against Victor "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela, which will be broadcast on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT from the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Miss.
"I have about three hours to lose about 20 or 30 pounds, something like that," said Bennett. "Man, I can lose that in an hour."
Bennett was upbeat and confident about victory and brushed aside Valenzuela as if he was insulted to be sharing the same cage with him. The two fought to a draw in August of 2005 on a King of the Cage card.
"I really don't have no thoughts on Joe Boxer because he really ain't nobody to be thinking about," Bennett scoffed. "Joe Boxer got to beat me; I don't got to beat him. He's got to beat me. It's like when you're the champion and in order to keep the title you got to beat the champion hands down and if you don't beat him hands down you don't get his title. But that's the situation that we're in. Hands down Joe Boxer is no one. Me? I am everything therefore he gots to beat me."
Bennett recently racked up two spectacular wins under the familiar KOTC banner, but most notably it was his EliteXC debut where he smoked the heavily favored and highly-regarded KJ Noons. In just under four minutes, Noons was flat on his back and as stiff as a board; it was one of Bennett's greatest triumphs.
"When you put that fight into perspective a lot of people didn't expect me to win that fight," he reminisced. "What happened in that fight happened in that fight and it happened for a reason. It's like this fight here. Joe Boxer is like, 'Oh I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that,' but in reality in his mind he knows he's afraid of me. Therefore he thinks that he's going to do all these wonderful things. But he had an opportunity back in 2005 and he should have finished me then. He couldn't even finished me then so therefore so what makes you think it's going to be any different from then now? From now to then? He only have like a 5-2 record -- 5-2-2 -- and like in the last two years I have fought more than he has in the last two years. So you tell me: to me it's like he wants to get an ass kicking from the Horse."
While Bennett's pro record isn't exactly impressive (there are almost as many losses as there are wins), the oft-troubled fighter from Ocala, Fla. is exciting enough to where he should be able to generate a larger fan base, akin to Gary Goodridge (Pictures).
Surprisingly, with all his clowning around in the cage and explosive knockout power, he has failed to catch on with the masses in a similar way to UFC legends Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and Randy Couture (Pictures).
Bennett, though, disagrees.
"You know I never looked at it that way," he said in a somewhat surprised tone about being overlooked. "To the mainstream fans, you know, it really doesn't bother me. I'm Krazy Horse. I'm me. I do what I do and whatever everyone thinks, so f--k 'em. I am more popular than Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and all these guys, so I'm in a league of my own and those guys are in a league of their own. You know, I'm the Horse."
The Horse also had a message for up-and-coming fighters who might dare to step foot into combat with him in hopes to knock him off the top of the lightweight division. Well, that is after he fights B.J. Penn (Pictures), his dream opponent. A fight with Penn would be the highest honor in his career, Bennett said, and once he got past him, he'd be able to have Penn's paychecks.
"To all these young fighters who want to think that the Horse is nothing," he quipped, "you can see on Saturday night on Showtime or you can even go to my Web site and leave me a message. Tell me how you really feel about me; it's not like I'll ever see you in person. Do what you do."
Is Krazy Horse really crazy? Maybe. Is he peculiar? Yes. Is he honest? Definitely. Is he the best fighter in his weight class? Not quite. Is he intriguing? Of course.
One thing is clear about Bennett: it's hard to gauge when he's dead serious or just joking around. Chances are, he'll show both sides Saturday.
Whether it's sitting on the turnbuckle during fights, scoring highlight reel knockouts or bragging about how strong his arms are due to his "self-help" tendencies, one can rest assured that Krazy Horse will be remembered, or at least make people scratch their heads in bemusement.
Sure, the lightweight isn't one of the greatest fighters on the planet but he knows how to sell himself anyone that will listen, and he has a superior talent for burrowing like a tick underneath the skin of his foes.
Bennett is a man of many words, though sometimes it's hard to fully comprehend what it is he's trying to say. Maybe it's purposeful, part of his shtick; maybe it's because his platinum-plated teeth get in the way; maybe he just doesn't have an oral filter. Either way, it's fun to catch up with Bennett, clearly one of the sport's most intriguing fighters, a mixed martial artist analogous to an "Upside Down Flint Rubble Double Bubble Cake" … it sounds and looks good, but what exactly are the ingredients?
Sherdog.com spoke with Bennett about three hours before his official weigh-in for Saturday's fight against Victor "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela, which will be broadcast on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT from the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Miss.
"I have about three hours to lose about 20 or 30 pounds, something like that," said Bennett. "Man, I can lose that in an hour."
Bennett was upbeat and confident about victory and brushed aside Valenzuela as if he was insulted to be sharing the same cage with him. The two fought to a draw in August of 2005 on a King of the Cage card.
"I really don't have no thoughts on Joe Boxer because he really ain't nobody to be thinking about," Bennett scoffed. "Joe Boxer got to beat me; I don't got to beat him. He's got to beat me. It's like when you're the champion and in order to keep the title you got to beat the champion hands down and if you don't beat him hands down you don't get his title. But that's the situation that we're in. Hands down Joe Boxer is no one. Me? I am everything therefore he gots to beat me."
Bennett recently racked up two spectacular wins under the familiar KOTC banner, but most notably it was his EliteXC debut where he smoked the heavily favored and highly-regarded KJ Noons. In just under four minutes, Noons was flat on his back and as stiff as a board; it was one of Bennett's greatest triumphs.
"When you put that fight into perspective a lot of people didn't expect me to win that fight," he reminisced. "What happened in that fight happened in that fight and it happened for a reason. It's like this fight here. Joe Boxer is like, 'Oh I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that,' but in reality in his mind he knows he's afraid of me. Therefore he thinks that he's going to do all these wonderful things. But he had an opportunity back in 2005 and he should have finished me then. He couldn't even finished me then so therefore so what makes you think it's going to be any different from then now? From now to then? He only have like a 5-2 record -- 5-2-2 -- and like in the last two years I have fought more than he has in the last two years. So you tell me: to me it's like he wants to get an ass kicking from the Horse."
While Bennett's pro record isn't exactly impressive (there are almost as many losses as there are wins), the oft-troubled fighter from Ocala, Fla. is exciting enough to where he should be able to generate a larger fan base, akin to Gary Goodridge (Pictures).
Surprisingly, with all his clowning around in the cage and explosive knockout power, he has failed to catch on with the masses in a similar way to UFC legends Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and Randy Couture (Pictures).
Bennett, though, disagrees.
"You know I never looked at it that way," he said in a somewhat surprised tone about being overlooked. "To the mainstream fans, you know, it really doesn't bother me. I'm Krazy Horse. I'm me. I do what I do and whatever everyone thinks, so f--k 'em. I am more popular than Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and all these guys, so I'm in a league of my own and those guys are in a league of their own. You know, I'm the Horse."
The Horse also had a message for up-and-coming fighters who might dare to step foot into combat with him in hopes to knock him off the top of the lightweight division. Well, that is after he fights B.J. Penn (Pictures), his dream opponent. A fight with Penn would be the highest honor in his career, Bennett said, and once he got past him, he'd be able to have Penn's paychecks.
"To all these young fighters who want to think that the Horse is nothing," he quipped, "you can see on Saturday night on Showtime or you can even go to my Web site and leave me a message. Tell me how you really feel about me; it's not like I'll ever see you in person. Do what you do."
Is Krazy Horse really crazy? Maybe. Is he peculiar? Yes. Is he honest? Definitely. Is he the best fighter in his weight class? Not quite. Is he intriguing? Of course.
One thing is clear about Bennett: it's hard to gauge when he's dead serious or just joking around. Chances are, he'll show both sides Saturday.
