Tag: benson henderson

In the lead-up to Fight Night 59, the UFC made it absolutely clear its return to Boston was going to be “The Conor McGregor Show.” 

With a push rarely seen in the promotion’s 21-year history, the brash-talking Irishman was on constant display in the buildup to the Jan. 18 event. The SBG Ireland representative was the subject of several different programs on Fox Sports 1. He also hit every major sports network for high-profile interviews that created a constant stream of headlines throughout the MMA community.

Every time the cameras rolled, McGregor allowed his self-confidence to shine as he reiterated his prediction to put his opponent Dennis Siver away in two minutes or less on Sunday night.

It was all McGregor all the time in the run up to Fight Night 59, with very little room left in the spotlight for Siver to stand.

The seasoned veteran would be further pushed out of the picture when UFC president Dana White announced that the surging 145-pound star would be granted an opportunity to face Jose Aldo for the featherweight crown with a victory over Siver.

Therefore, the main event at Fight Night 59 appeared to be the next big step in McGregor’s rise to title contention, but his opponent had much different plans.

Few gave the Russian-German striker a chance in his tilt with “Notorious,” yet Siver came into TD Gardens intent on derailing the McGregor hype train in spectacular fashion. Nevertheless, he had a monumental task before him when the cage door closed, and Siver had few answers to the offense McGregor brought to him in the fight.

While the featherweight upstart was unable to finish Siver in the two-minute window he had previously predicted, McGregor still put his opponent away shortly into the second round with a flurry of punches from top position.

Immediately after referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the bout, McGregor made a mad dash over the Octagon to go face-to-face with champion Jose Aldo who was sitting cageside. McGregor launched taunts in the Brazilian phenom’s direction, while the long-reigning featherweight king answered his challenge with a huge smile as the biggest fight in the history of the 145-pound division began to take shape.

While the co-main event at Fight Night 59 didn’t receive a quarter of the attention as the top bout on the billing, the third meeting between Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone was a highly anticipated affair in its own right.

“Cowboy” agreed to the bout on just 13-days notice and two days after picking up his sixth consecutive victory at UFC 182, as he stepped in to replace Eddie Alvarez in his fight with the former lightweight champion.

On the other side of the equation, “Smooth” was coming off a loss in his most recent showing against Rafael dos Anjos at Fight Night 49 back in August. The former WEC lightweight champion had defeated the Albuquerque transplant in both of their two previous meetings, and he seemed to be on his way to earning his third victory over Cerrone until the judges’ decision was announced.

At the end of the closely contested affair, it was Cerrone who earned the unanimous decision to pick up his seventh consecutive victory and continue his run toward a shot at the lightweight title. While the decision was undoubtedly controversial and could have arguably gone Henderson’s way, it was far from the robbery fans on Twitter made it out to be.

That being said, let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 59.

 

The Good

The Conor McGregor train returned to Boston with a main event in its immediate future and a potential title shot waiting in the wings.

All the SBG Ireland representative had to do was dispatch of Siver, which he did with seemingly minimal effort early in the second round of the contest.

While “Notorious” didn’t hit his mark of putting the German striker away within two minutes as he’d previously predicted, he still battered the seasoned veteran en route to picking up his fifth consecutive victory under the UFC banner and earning his place as the No. 1 contender to Aldo’s featherweight crown.

McGregor wasted zero time building his showdown with the Brazilian champion as he jumped the Octagon and attempted to get in Aldo’s face. While the featherweight king smiled during the scrappy Irishman’s taunts, the UFC was undoubtedly sharing Aldo’s sentiment as hype for the biggest bout in featherweight history jumped off to a memorable start.

With the UFC pushing McGregor in a manner that only women’s bantamweight phenom Ronda Rousey could appreciate, there is little doubt the promotional machine will be in full swing in the lead-up to the highly anticipated championship tilt.

Where both the UFC and McGregor were hyping a showdown with Aldo in Dublin’s Croke Park in 2015, the promotion shifted gears earlier this week and suggested the bout would most likely take place on neutral ground in Las Vegas.

That said, setting up the fight will do little to diminish what will undoubtedly be the biggest showcase for the UFC’s fastest rising star.

McGregor has been calling out Aldo since he entered the Octagon back in 2013, and just two years and five fights later, his prediction will ultimately come to fruition. That’s an impressive feat by any measurable standard, and McGregor will finally get the opportunity to validate his boasts of being the best featherweight in the world.

When the UFC announced Donald Cerrone would be stepping in to face Benson Henderson at Fight Night 59, it seemed to be a choice that toed the line of insanity.

“Cowboy” was only a handful of days removed from defeating Myles Jury at UFC 182—his sixth consecutive victory and the latest notch on the most impressive run of his career—and taking a bout with the former lightweight champion on just 10 days was a turn only the hard-charging lightweight could make.

Nevertheless, the scrappy striker carried his winning ways into Boston on Sunday night and exited the Octagon with his winning streak intact as he defeated Henderson via unanimous decision.

While the decision was of the controversial variety, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Cerrone took another strong step toward earning his first title opportunity under the UFC banner.

The 31-year-old Albuquerque transplant has been within striking distance of UFC gold on several occasions, but every time he’s gotten close, the former WEC lightweight title challenger has been turned back and his title hopes dashed.

That said, the current version of Cerrone appears to be a different animal. The historically slow starter has found a way to get to work in much quicker fashion and seven consecutive opponents have found this out in tough fashion.

With that caliber of success, Cerrone could very well be tapped for a title opportunity in the near future, but with champion Anthony Pettis facing Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 in March, the “anytime, anyplace” fighter could very well have another bout before a shot at championship gold materializes.

*** Benson Henderson may not have earned the nod with the cageside judges on Sunday night, but many in the MMA community believed he did enough to defeat Donald Cerrone at Fight Night 59. The former lightweight champion bit his tongue and took the high road in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan following his loss, and for good reason as he put on a solid performance in his third scrap with Cowboy.

That said, the setback was his second consecutive loss in the highly competitive lightweight fold, and it will be interesting to see who the former 155-pound title holder draws for his next bout. MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi pointed out the Massachusett’s commission said Cerrone “won a unanimous decision”:

*** While Gleison Tibau may be the longest-tenured fighter on the UFC lightweight roster, the stocky Brazilian has struggled to find consistency over the course of his decade-long career. That said, the American Top Team product has found his rhythm as of late and came into his bout with Norman Parke having won back-to-back contest.

Tibau wanted to keep that momentum rolling against the Northern Ireland representative and used his superior grappling skills to hand Parke his first loss under the UFC banner and his first setback since 2010. 

Nevertheless, while Tibau picked up win No. 16 under the UFC banner, 11 of those victories have come by way of the judges’ scorecards.

With the amount of talent currently lining the UFC’s 155-pound ranks, Tibau needs to make himself stand out in order to truly break through into the lightweight fold’s upper tier. Or he can simply keep winning and picking up his third-straight victory inside the Octagon shows that Tibau may have finally figured out his inconsistency issues.

Ben Askren shared an interesting take on Tibau’s winning record via so many decisions:

*** There was no fighter on the card at Fight Night 59 who needed a win more than Lorenz Larkin. The Strikeforce crossover had dropped four of his past five showings coming into his tilt with John Howard, with three of those setbacks coming in consecutive fashion.

Larkin’s bout with “Doomsday” was set to be his official debut as a welterweight, and the Southern California native kicked his run at 170 pounds off in spectacular fashion as he earned an impressive first-round finish over the heavy-handed veteran. Larkin looked better than he had looked in two years as he used his striking to finish Howard and pick up his first win since November 2013. 

*** There are times when a fighter can gain solid credibility even in defeat, and that was certainly the case for Charles Rosa in his UFC debut against Dennis Siver at Fight Night 53 back in October.

The talented prospect put on a scrappy performance that night in Stockholm and came into his bout with Sean Soriano in Boston looking to notch his first victory inside the Octagon. While Rosa dictated the action throughout, he ultimately proved too much for the Team Blackzilians fighter to handle as he locked in a D’arce choke to earn victory in the final round.

*** Prior to his bout with Matt Van Buren at Fight Night 59, Sean O’Connell’s luck under the UFC banner had been anything but stellar.

The 31-year-old Utah native suffered a knockout at the hands of Ryan Jimmo in his debut inside the Octagon and then was edged out by Gian Villante via split decision two months later in New Zealand.

A third straight loss would have been disastrous for O’Connell, but fortunately for “The Real OC,” he scored an impressive TKO finish in the final round of the fight. In addition to picking up his first UFC win, O’Connell also earned an additional $50,000 with a Performance of the Night bonus alongside Van Buren for putting on the “Fight of the Night” in Boston.

 

The Bad

There is a popular mindset among fighters in mixed martial arts that leaving the decision in the judges’ hands opens the door for craziness to happen. In the 21-year history of the sport, there have been some atrocious calls to validate that particular ideology, but what went down between Cathal Pendred and Sean Spencer on the undercard of Fight Night 59 is an entirely different level of awful.

While The Ultimate Fighter alum started off strong by scoring a takedown in the early goings of the bout, the remaining two-and-a-half rounds belonged to Spencer.

After getting back to his feet in the opening frame, the Virginia native blasted the SBG Ireland representative with an overhand right that put “The Punisher” on the deck and in serious trouble. Nevertheless, Spencer wasn’t able to put Pendred away and secure the victory, and the fight carried into the second round.

The remaining 10 minutes would see the Spencer beat Pendred to the punch in nearly every exchange as he dotted up the Irishman at a high rate. Yet, Pendred would secure two more takedowns over the next two rounds but would fail to do anything with them as Spencer quickly returned to his feet.

When the final bell sounded, it appeared Spencer was on his way to a unanimous-decision victory, and when the three scores (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) were read, the general consensus on social media was that the Dallas-based fighter was on his way to picking up his fourth win in his last five showings. But that wasn’t how things turned out, and the two judges who scored all three rounds for Pendred should be embarrassed—a sentiment shared by MMAOddsBreaker.com’s Brian Hemminger:

While anything can and typically does happen inside the Octagon, there is no feasible way the Boston native won that fight. Yes, the John Kavanagh-trained fighter did score three takedowns in the fight, but he was largely unable to capitalize on his position once the action hit the ground. The rest of the bout was Spencer using his boxing and speed to keep Pendred on his heels as he worked to secure the victory.

Shortly after the unanimous decision for Pendred was announced, UFC cameras cut to Dana White and Joe Rogan standing cageside, and both men were quick to share their thoughts on the robbery that had just taken place. Neither believed Pendred won the tilt, and it instantly became an example of just how poor MMA judging can sometimes be.

*** John Howard came into his bout with Larenz Larkin in desperate need of a victory. “Doomsday” had been dealt losses in his two most recent showings and was looking to avoid a third straight setback at the hands of the California-based striker.

Unfortunately for the Boston native, Larkin proved too much for him to handle as the former Strikeforce veteran earned the victory via first-round knockout.

While there is no set formula for fighters being released from the UFC, it was a three-fight skid that led to his release from the promotion back in 2011. Howard battled through the regional circuit to earn another call from the UFC, and he may very well find himself back in the same position following his loss to Larkin on Sunday night.

 

The Strange

Uriah Hall had an awful time finding an opponent to face him at Fight Night 59.

The Ultimate Fighter alum was originally slated to face Costa Phillippou on the main card of the UFC’s return to Boston, but his opponent was forced to pull out of the fight due to injury. With a short window to find an opponent for Hall, the UFC tapped former Strikeforce fighter Louis Taylor to step in and face the dynamic middleweight striker.

Taylor was heralded for stepping up and taking the fight on short notice, but he would never see the Octagon, as a back injury forced him off the card as well. That news left the promotion seven days to find someone to face “Primetime,” and another former Strikeforce veteran Ron Stallings stepped up to accept the challenge with less than a week to prepare. 

With all that chaos in the lead-up to Fight Night 59, the only possible payoff would have been an exciting clash between the surging middleweight and his unknown challenger, but that wasn’t how things shook out when the cage door closed on Sunday night.

Stallings looked to press the action, but a shot from Hall in the early goings opened up a massive cut above the left eye of the promotional newcomer. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout shortly after to allow the cageside doctor to take a look, and after a brief examination, the bout was waived off due to the severity of the injury.

While Stallings initially protested the stoppage, it was ultimately the right call as the skin over his eye was hanging down. And even though Hall didn’t get the opportunity to truly showcase his skills in the fight, he used his microphone time to launch some strong barbs in Phiippou’s direction and urge people around the world to stop the violence and start using their brains.

Nevertheless, Hall picked up his third consecutive victory inside the Octagon and will undoubtedly draw a bigger name from the middleweight ranks in his next outing.

Finally, let’s return to the popular topic of MMA judging for a moment. 

When the unanimous-decision victory was announced for Donald Cerrone over his opponent Benson Henderson in the co-main event, social-media channels wasted no time crying foul.

The bout between Cowboy and Henderson was a hard-fought affair with a large portion of the MMA universe believing the former 155-pound champion would take the nod, but when the 31-year-old Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter’s name was announced as the victor, people across the community were in shock.

And why exactly was that? The bout was a back-and-forth affair, and Cerrone taking the decision was hardly a robbery, so then why were fans and media alike so upset?

I personally believe an awful call from earlier in the night where Pedred earned a unanimous-decision victory over Spencer after being tagged for the better part of the three-round affair. The Irishman getting the nod after being beaten to the punch for 15 minutes sparked outrage with MMA’s fighting faithful, and that wound was re-irritated with Cerrone getting the victory.

Fellow Bleacher Report MMA columnist Jeremy Botter and I had opposite scores at the end of the bout. He believed Cerrone took the third round, and I thought Henderson had done enough to take the victory.

Neither of us batted an eye upon the decision being announced, which was far from the outcry that hit Twitter immediately after the co-main event bout. The only reason I can think of for such a reaction was the simmering rage due to the drastic error made in Pendred vs. Spencer.

Fans were already upset by the incompetency the cageside judges had shown, and that led them to overreact to what was ultimately a close fight between Cerrone and Henderson in the co-main event. With that being said, MMA judging is an issue that continues to plague the sport and here’s to hoping those people charged with scoring professional bouts get their acts together.

Personally, I had previously held Michael Bisping defeating Matt Hamill via split decision at UFC 75 back in 2007 as the worst decision I had ever seen, but three judges seeing Pendred over Spencer set a new standard in awfulness.

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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