UFC on Versus 5 last night was a true MMA show if there ever was one, with only one fight truly leaving something to be desired.
All throughout, the fights did not disappoint, and one fight that proved an early candidate for Fight of the Night before the main card even started was the bantamweight clash between Joseph Benavidez and Eddie Wineland.
It was a bit more technical than what some fans of the WEC days were used to seeing previously from Benavidez, but fans who hadn’t seen Benavidez in action before last night got a nice taste of what to expect from “The Beefcake.”
Wineland did give Benavidez a fight but for most of the fight, Wineland seemed tentative and appeared hesitant to pull the trigger at times, opening Benavidez’s opportunities to attack Wineland head on.
The most damage Benavidez appeared to take was when Wineland caught him on the eyebrow and Benavidez somehow felt as though he got poked in the eye.
It was irrelevant, however, as Benavidez got past it and landed the harder, more damaging shots to the former WEC bantamweight champion, even busting him open at one point in the fight.
As a result, Benavidez moves up in the ranks and hopes to position himself near the upper echelon of 135 once more, although many argue he would benefit more by taking on exciting 135-lb fights and putting on main-event-level performances until Dana White establishes a legitimate UFC flyweight division.
Once that happens, there’s no question that Benavidez would be considered as elite as they come.
Actually, “champion” will be more like it.
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