(Gentlemen, if you want to truly be considered the winner, we’re going to need to see a little more effort here.)
Well, he must have called DW back. Whether you feel Frankie Edgar deserved it or not, it appears the former lightweight champion will be getting his rematch with Ben Henderson sometime this summer, as announced by UFC President Dana White on his Twitter earlier this evening.
After “The Answer” lost his title to “Smooth” at UFC 144 via unanimous decision, many assumed that Henderson was destined for a rematch of a different nature, specifically, that of his WEC 53 clash with Anthony Pettis, who not only defeated Benson to claim the WEC’s final lightweight title, but whom also scored a big win over Joe Lauzon via first round head kick at UFC 144. Considering Dana White repeatedly stated that he would prefer to see Edgar drop to 145 and face champion Jose Aldo, it seemed we were destined for another round of cage leaping madness. Aside from that possible matchup, the MMA blogosphere also rallied behind the idea of the winner of the upcoming Nate Diaz/Jim Miller match getting the next shot, a sentiment that to a certain degree was echoed by White himself just hours ago at the UFC on Fox press conference.
But alas, it seems our cries fell on deaf ears, as we are destined for yet another rematch for the lightweight title. It’s not that we’re pissed for another Edgar/Henderson go-around, because the first fight was more than entertaining, but we’re starting to get the impression that if a fight goes the distance at 155, it must mean that it was hotly contested. Perhaps the UFC should adopt a “finish or GTFO” type policy for the lightweight division, because all these rematches are starting to get ridiculous, exciting as they are.
To be fair, Edgar has accepted a rematch with everyone that the UFC has asked him to, so DW probably owed him this. In either case, there’s no point in bitching about it now, so who y’all got for this one?
-J. Jones