Did Benson “Smooth” Henderson’s dethronement of Frankie Edgar as UFC lightweight champion in UFC 144 set a new precedent on how future UFC fights will be judged, giving more bearing to effective striking than frequency of takedowns?
According to FightMetric statisticians, Henderson was the more active and lethal striker (and it showed on his opponent’s face), while Edgar was significantly more effective in the takedown department.
Throughout the fight, Henderson landed more strikes in quantity and quality. On the other hand, Edgar, though no slouch in striking, was more successful in landing takedowns.
In every round, except in the third where both fighters were equal with one takedown apiece, Edgar had the edge. More so, adding up all the takedowns, Edgar collected a total of five successful attempts compared to Bendo’s one!
And Edgar was even more aggressive in that third round in the takedown department, with four attempts to Bendo’s uno. We can argue, though, that the newly-crowned champion was more efficient with a 1:1 ratio.
In short, if takedowns alone were and are the basis for winning a decision in UFC, then Edgar would’ve retained his title hands down.
But more often than not, an effective strike does more damage than a consummated takedown—and the discrepancy is pronouncedly huge.
How many times has a takedown per se finished a fight?
True, there was Frank Shamrock’s iconic first-round double-leg lift and slam that triumphantly brought his title defense versus Igor Zinoviev to a quick ending—along with the latter’s fighting career.
And in Pride FC, Mark Coleman took down Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, breaking the Brazilian’s arm as punishment for “forgetting” how to fall properly.
But let’s not get too far back in history; we already have premium examples from last Saturday’s UFC 144 itself.
Quinton Jackson did slam Ryan Bader explosively hard on the canvas, and Darth landed with his left arm twisted and seemingly dislocated. Well Bader, in that same round, proceeded to get the top position on the ground and rained strikes on Jackson—using the elbow of that very same arm.
Now compare whatever “effect” of that slam to Anthony Pettis’ head kick on Joe Lauzon…
If the three judges of the UFC 144 Championship main event did consciously give more weight to effective striking over effective takedowns, then they did the right thing. This could be their lasting legacy to the UFC and to MMA in general.
For posterity’s sake, let’s honor them by remembering their names: Jordan Breen, Freddie DeFreitas and Chris Nelson.
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