“Smooth” Benson Henderson spent a year-and-a-half as the top star of the UFC lightweight division after winning the championship in February 2012.

During that time, the Federal Way native earned Fight of the Year honors from numerous publications.

His quest to reclaim that glory started shortly after he lost the title to Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 in August 2013. He won twice in 2014 and is looking for an even more successful year in 2015.

On Sunday, Jan. 18, he will fight in the co-main event at the UFC Fight Night event in Boston against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, one of the top contenders in the lightweight division.

Cerrone is taking the fight 15 days after his last fight at UFC 182. Eddie Alvarez was originally scheduled to be Henderson’s opponent, but had to withdraw due to injury.

Henderson, a graduate of Decatur High School in 2001, will be going into the fight having won nine of his last 11 fights. His most recent fight in August ended in a loss to Rafael dos Anjos via knockout, the first loss due to strikes in his career.

“I allowed myself to be put in a position where the referee felt he had to step in,” Henderson said. “It was my fault. I can’t allow that.”

Cerrone is currently ranked above Henderson in the UFC rankings. Both could very well be on their way to a title shot in the near future with a win.

“I don’t really concern myself with rankings,” Henderson said. “They aren’t super reliable. There’s no real rhyme or reason to them.”

On Sunday, Henderson will take on a fighter familiar to him. He has faced off with Cerrone twice in his career and won both times. Both bouts were for the WEC Lightweight Championship.

His first fight with Cerrone in 2009 was a close contest that Henderson won via unanimous decision. Each judge scored the fight 48-47 and it won Fight of the Year honors from multiple publications.

“I really like that first fight because I pushed myself to the limit,” says Henderson. “If I would have held anything back, I would have ended up losing the fight. I had to literally be carried out of the Octagon, but I got my hand raised.”

The second fight between the two was much shorter. Henderson was able to win with a guillotine choke submission less than two minutes into the first round.

“The coaching staff showed how smart they were by noticing a couple holes in his game,” he said. “Me, being the athlete, I was able to go in there and use the game plan to take advantage of those holes.”

It has been almost five years since the two fought. Henderson says that Cerrone hasn’t changed his style much, but he has improved since they last met.

Though his opponent changed on very short notice, Henderson says it has not affected his preparation. He has taken notice of Cerrone’s tendencies.

“You don’t want to go into a fight reacting to your opponent, you want your opponent reacting to you,” he said.

Henderson’s fight will be a part of the main card for UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. PST.