The UFC lightweight title was on the line in Saturday night’s matchup between Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz. The pair clashed at UFC on FOX 5 as the main event of the free broadcast.
It was an exciting matchup between a pair of fighters who have no problem mixing it up for the entire round.
The fight went the full five rounds, but Henderson won each of those en route to a 50-43, 50-45, 50-45 unanimous decision, retaining his title.
Henderson is now undefeated in his six fights under the UFC banner.
Let’s take a look at how each round shaped up, and why Henderson walked away the victor.
First Round
The first round started out a bit slow. Diaz worked Henderson to the fence and landed a few blows, but Henderson slipped out.
The pair traded blows in the middle of the ring for a while until Henderson dropped Diaz to the mat. There, he landed a successive series of hammerfists.
Diaz got up a few seconds later and the pair ended the round at the fence. It was close, but Diaz took an early lead thanks to his steady stream of connecting blows.
Second Round
Henderson started out the second round rather quickly. He tripped Diaz early on, landing a number of blows when he hit the mat.
Diaz was able to get back up, but took a kick to the head in doing so. Diaz tried to make Henderson box, but he took no part, dancing away.
Eventually, Henderson landed a big left hook, knocking Diaz to the mat. And once again, Henderson pounded him. When Diaz got up, he was bleeding quite a bit.
Henderson dominated the round.
Third Round
The round started out with a leg kick from Henderson, a move he used effectively all match. He secured another takedown right after and, once again, landed a series of blows with Diaz on the mat.
After a second takedown by Henderson, the pair grappled for a bit on the ground, each attempting to land a submission hold. Neither was successful, but Henderson got the better of the exchange on the ground.
When they got to their feet, Diaz decided to taunt the champ. It wasn’t a good idea.
Henderson landed a huge blow, knocking Diaz to the mat, once again, to end the round.
Fourth Round
Things didn’t change much in this round.
Henderson landed takedown after takedown against Diaz. The champ landed a few punches, and when Diaz got up Henderson brought him back down to the mat.
Diaz attempted some desperate submission attempts, but Henderson looked to be in control the entire time.
Fifth Round
Diaz stood in the middle of the ring with a swollen right eye at the beginning of the frame, and it didn’t get much better for him at the end of the round.
Henderson slammed him to the ground multiple times landing kicks and punches with ease.
He’s disciplined in his approach and never deviates from his game plan of using his ground game and range to his advantage.
Henderson landed a huge kick to the head with just around a minute remaining. Diaz was still taunting him at that point, but it was all for naught. Henderson dominated the fight
Why Henderson Won
Henderson retained his title in a cold and calculated effort. He negated Diaz‘s boxing advantage by landing a large amount of kicks to the legs, allowing the champ to take the fight to the ground.
Henderson won each round by at least a point, and it can be argued he won by some by a score of 10-8.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com