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Donald Cerrone Was on the Correct End of a Questionable Decision

Controversial judging was one of the major stories coming out of UFC Fight Night: McGregor versus Siver. Donald Cerrone was involved in one of the decisions which left many upset with the abilities of commission selected judges.
His fight against Benso…

Controversial judging was one of the major stories coming out of UFC Fight Night: McGregor versus Siver. Donald Cerrone was involved in one of the decisions which left many upset with the abilities of commission selected judges.

His fight against Benson Henderson was a compelling matchup, but few will remember the action rather than the dialogue surrounding whether or not the judges selected the correct winner. Digging deeper into the fight will uncover that while the fight was close, Cerrone did not do enough to have his hand raised in victory.

Doug Crosby, Sal D’Amato and Mike Mena were the three judges during this co-main event. They scored the fight 29-28 for “Cowboy.” Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting sent out a tweet of an image with the official scorecards from the bout. Crosby and D’Amato awarded Cerrone the first two rounds of the fight, while Mena gave him the last two.

Looking at the statistics provided by FightMetric, the appearance is that Henderson was the more effective fighter of the two. Henderson landed 86 of 155 significant strikes compared to 57 of 125 for Cerrone. While Henderson has been known as a wrestler of sorts throughout his MMA career, it was Cerrone who attempted seven takedowns, being awarded one.

Breaking those numbers down round by round also shows that Henderson out-struck Cerrone in every round of the contest. The third round was very tight between the two, as Henderson landed 29 of 50 total strikes compared to Cerrone‘s 22 of 44.

One may question the validity of these statistics to determine a winner based upon where those strikes were landing. Sixty-one percent of Henderson’s strikes were landed to Cerrone‘s legs. He implemented a lead thrust kick to Cerrone‘s front leg that landed multiple times throughout the fight. Only 15 percent of his strikes were thrown to Donald’s head. Cerrone, on the other hand, evenly distributed his strikes across Henderson’s frame during the bout.

The outcry from the MMA media across platforms such as Twitter was immediate. Individuals such as MMA journalist James Lynch expressed their disbelief for the decision being awarded to Cerrone.

The unified rules that are used to govern mixed martial arts call for bouts to be judged upon effective striking, grappling, control of the ring/fighting area, effective aggressiveness and defense (via UFC.com). Those factors create an air of subjective judgement which make it difficult to create a black and white case for fights that are as close as this contest. The numbers show that Henderson landed more strikes, but Cerrone was the fighter who was moving forward toward his opponent throughout most of the bout.

Still, that movement should not negate the fact that Henderson was more effective in the fight. He was more accurate with a higher volume of attempted strikes. Plus he effectively defended much of Cerrone‘s offense and takedown attempts. Both of these aspects are firmly within the realm of MMA’s unified rules. 

Controversial decisions are going to happen in mixed martial arts. So much so that “Robbery of the Year” has become a staple among awards provided by media outlets covering the sport. UFC Fight Night: McGregor versus Siver gave the fight community two examples. Donald Cerrone found himself on the right end of a questionable decision that will be debated for weeks to come.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Johnson: A Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Unlike title shots that go on to disappear as quickly as they are promised, the winner between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will be the next man to step into the cage with Jon Jones. You can bet on that. 
And all the…

Unlike title shots that go on to disappear as quickly as they are promised, the winner between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will be the next man to step into the cage with Jon Jones. You can bet on that. 

And all the better for Jones, who’s been a vocal critic of the UFC’s propensity for paving a nice path for his biggest threats as they make their way to the top of the mountain. But he can’t say that here, as Dana White’s created a nice little matchup between the division’s No. 1 and No. 3 contenders in Gustafsson and Johnson, respectively. 

It’s set to be a barnburner between the man who’s proven himself as Jones’ greatest threat and another man who could prove a difficult test. 

Scroll on as we break this fight down from head to toe. 

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Alexander Gustafsson’s Resilience Breeds Focus in Life, Success Inside the Octagon

During the month of January, Stockholm, Sweden averages only two hours of daylight and daytime temperatures can fall to -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit).  It’s a challenging environment, but one that has helped to cultivate the UFC…

During the month of January, Stockholm, Sweden averages only two hours of daylight and daytime temperatures can fall to -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit).  It’s a challenging environment, but one that has helped to cultivate the UFC’s number No.1 ranked light heavyweight, Alexander Gustafsson.
Standing a lofty 6-feet-5 inches and topped by the clichéd Swedish blonde hair, Gustafsson’s appearance is reminiscent of a Viking warrior.  He is distinguished from the populous by his cauliflowered ears, a sort of badge he wears proudly. Despite his large … Read the Full Article Here

Fight Noise: Scroobius Pip’s Ultimate Training Tunes

Head to our UFCEurope account for walkout music, guest playlists and more UFC tracklists. This week Scroobius Pip, UK rapper, spoken word poet and founder of Speech Development Records talks through his ultimate training playlist.

The choice of mu…

Head to our UFCEurope account for walkout music, guest playlists and more UFC tracklists. This week Scroobius Pip, UK rapper, spoken word poet and founder of Speech Development Records talks through his ultimate training playlist.

The choice of music is crucial for any workout. Choose the wrong tunes and you can never quite find the mindset you’re looking for. Choose the right tunes and it can help you make every minute, every movement of that training session matter.
I’ve divided my ultimate playlist into three sections: cardio, heavy bag and the cooldown.
 
Playlist 1: C … Read the Full Article Here

Fight Night Boston Recap – Mail Sport

 
Love him or loathe him, you can’t deny he’s entertaining.Conor McGregor delivered on his promise to stop Dennis Siver – before clambering out of the Octagon to confront the watching featherweight champion Jose Aldo.McGregor&rs…

 
Love him or loathe him, you can’t deny he’s entertaining.Conor McGregor delivered on his promise to stop Dennis Siver – before clambering out of the Octagon to confront the watching featherweight champion Jose Aldo.McGregor’s victory in Boston, which came in the second round, sets him up for a shot at the long-reigning king of the division in Las Vegas in May.
 
Read the full article on Mail Sport. Read the Full Article Here

Benson Henderson’s plan is still to ‘beat up’ Anthony Pettis, but he’s open to moving up to welterweight

Benson Henderson has a big fight with Donald Cerrone on Sunday night. But after that? Things are up in the air.
The former UFC lightweight champion still has plans at making another run at that belt. Henderson, though, has not ruled out a mo…

Benson Henderson has a big fight with Donald Cerrone on Sunday night. But after that? Things are up in the air.

The former UFC lightweight champion still has plans at making another run at that belt. Henderson, though, has not ruled out a move up to welterweight. He’s also open to going back and forth between the two divisions depending on the fights available to him.

“I think there’s some interesting matchups at 170,” Henderson told MMAFighting.com. “I wasn’t a big fan of it early in my career. As you get older, it’s a little bit tougher to make weight. I’m more open to the idea of going to 170. Bouncing back between 170 and 155? I’d probably be OK with that.”

Henderson meets Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver in Boston. It’s a significant fight for “Smooth,” mostly because he’s in uncharted territory. Henderson was knocked out by Rafael dos Anjos in August and he has never lost two straight in his career. In fact, that loss to dos Anjos was his first defeat in a non-title fight in the UFC or WEC.

For the last three or four years, Henderson has been regarded as either the best lightweight in the world or a very close second. That’s no longer the case. Pettis and dos Anjos are ahead of him. So is Khabib Nurmagomedov at this point and maybe Gilbert Melendez, too. Even Cerrone is ranked higher and Henderson has beaten him twice (both in WEC).

Like most fighters, Henderson doesn’t pay much attention to rankings. He’s sarcastic about their relevance. And he might be right. Henderson believes that all it would take is one impressive victory for him to be back in that title conversation, even though he has lost to Pettis twice. After all, if Cerrone is getting another crack at Henderson after two losses, why couldn’t the UFC give Henderson another shot at Pettis?

“If that’s the game you want to play, numbers game, rankings wise, that’s fine for me,” Henderson said. “I don’t care. I know I’m a top contender. I’ll always be a top contender as long as I choose to fight. I know everybody who I face off against is gonna be tough.”

Henderson (21-4) feels the same way about welterweight if he were to make that jump. He wouldn’t just want to move up and face a journeyman. Henderson would be down for a top contender right away.

That change has not been decided yet, though. Henderson, 31, admits he comes from an old-school wrestling background where you try to cut as much weight as you possibly can so you can be bigger and stronger than your opponent. But there are reasons to believe that isn’t always the best thing.

“The new school of thought is wrestle at your natural weight, fight at your natural weight,” Henderson said. “It’ll be an easier time. You don’t have to worry cutting weight. You won’t get tired. You’ll be a little bit quicker, you’ll be faster and [have] a little bit better agility against bigger opponents. We’ll see. There’s pros and cons to both.”

None of that will be hashed out until after the Cerrone fight. Things change quickly in the UFC. Up until last week, Henderson thought he’d be fighting Eddie Alvarez on Sunday. With the way injuries go, would it be completely shocking to see Henderson in a lightweight title eliminator or even title fight in 2015? Probably not.

“The plan right now is to keep working my way up, keep winning, get my hand raised,” Henderson said. “The same game plan as before. Get the belt back around my waist, face off against Anthony Pettis if he still has the belt and beat him up — beat him up bad — and get my belt back.”