Now that Benson Henderson has solidified himself as the UFC lightweight champ, he can finally work towards surpassing arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, Anderson “The Spider” Silva.Henderson is easily one of the most ambitious fighters in th…
Now that Benson Henderson has solidified himself as the UFC lightweight champ, he can finally work towards surpassing arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
Henderson is easily one of the most ambitious fighters in the world. Most would consider winning a UFC title to be the apex of a fighter’s career.
For Henderson, it was only the beginning.
“I definitely have long-term goals [and] short-term goals, but that’s been my goal since I first got into fighting—to be the best fighter on the planet, no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Henderson said during a media teleconference leading up to his UFC 144 bout with Frankie Edgar.
“I don’t think me beating Frankie gets me anywhere near the conversation. I’d have to beat Frankie and beat a couple of other guys and defend the belt. What is Anderson up to? He’s up to 12 right now? 13? So after I beat whatever Anderson’s record is, whatever he stops at, 14 times, 15 times, after I beat that, then the conversation is going to begin.”
Most critics chalked this up as crazy talk coming from an ex-WEC champion. Wasn’t this the same guy that got LiuKang’d across the cage by Anthony Pettis a little over a year ago? A walking highlight reel was going to oust Edgar, one of the greatest lightweights in UFC history?
Nostradamus couldn’t have predicted what happened next, as Henderson went on to take the title from Edgar and successfully defend against him in the same year.
Is there something we’re missing? Could Henderson actually surpass Silva’s UFC record for title defenses?
As Henderson alluded to in the teleconference, he isn’t anywhere near in the conversation of Silva, who has defended his middleweight title 10 consecutive times. There is still a lot of ground to cover, and the path to greatness at lightweight isn’t nearly as smooth as at middleweight.
With that said, Henderson isn’t the same fighter he was in the WEC. Since coming to the big stage, he has amassed a 5-0 record over stellar opposition.
At only 28 years of age, there is a tremendous upside to Henderson’s career. He will continue to make improvements and become a better fighter.
Since his UFC debut, Henderson has been an underdog with the sole purpose of proving his critics wrong.
After his second heartbreaking loss in as many fights against Benson Henderson, former champion Frankie Edgar walked out of UFC 150 without his lightweight title and with no hopes of getting another title shot anytime soon.How the mighty have fallen. E…
After his second heartbreaking loss in as many fights against Benson Henderson, former champion Frankie Edgar walked out of UFC 150 without his lightweight title and with no hopes of getting another title shot anytime soon.
How the mighty have fallen.
Edgar’s time as champion in UFC is over unless he can climb the ladder again and claw his way back into a spot to earn another opportunity to snag the gold. The problem is that he doesn’t deserve another shot.
Dana White and the UFC are in a tough spot because Edgar is 30 years old and the lightweight division is stacked. If the UFC keeps handing Edgar title opportunities it will hold back stars like Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz, who deserve the title shot, before Frankie gets another chance.
After yet another loss, Edgar told the Washington Post that he thought he won but realizes his time of fighting for titles is done until he earns his way back to the top:
I felt I improved from last time, and I think I did enough to win…A lot of people told me they thought I’d won, but it doesn’t matter. The judges didn’t. The decision is not going to change, and it is what it is…I’m moving on…Dana’s not going to give me another title shot, I know that much.
Despite having an almost two-year reign over the lightweight division, his recent string of defeats highlights what happens in the MMA world—no fighter can defeat father time and they have to move on eventually.
In the UFC, you have to earn your shot at the title and Edgar has proven that now isn’t his time.
While experts believe Edgar will start the arduous climb through the ranks of the lightweight division, the star would be better-off dropping 10 pounds and fighting at featherweight.
After dominating for so long at one weight, the change could be the kick in the pants that brings the fire back to Edgar’s eyes.
Add in the possibility of winning a title in two divisions, and the transition could seal Edgar’s fate as one of the best fighters of all time.
After fighting for his lightweight title and falling at the hands of Henderson, Edgar will have to go to the back of the title-contention line in any weight class he tries. He doesn’t deserve another title shot until he fights his way into one.
At this point, why not try to achieve greatness in a lighter weight class?
Benson “Smooth” Henderson secured his first title defence by besting Frankie Edgar in an extremely competitive five-round fight. During the fight, Benson Henderson briefly showed off his trademark submission defence. He easily avoided Edgar’s attempt t…
Benson “Smooth” Henderson secured his first title defence by besting Frankie Edgar in an extremely competitive five-round fight.
During the fight, Benson Henderson briefly showed off his trademark submission defence. He easily avoided Edgar’s attempt to choke him out after dazing him in the second round.
Henderson is able to stay very calm in the midst of submission-related danger. Anyone who saw Henderson’s fights with Jim Miller or Mark Bocek knows that Henderson has no problems pounding away at his opponents from positions that would make most fighters desperately scramble for survival or tap.
His technique and flexibility have afforded him the ability to neutralize submission fighters in this way. No matter how deep a submission seems to be, he ultimately finds his way out, and his opponents are always the ones who end up more damaged.
But if he continues his carefree ways and lets Nate Diaz secure a tight submission lock, he’s going to find himself tapping or going out.
The champion has undoubtedly bested many very capable grapplers in the UFC and WEC but none with submission skills of Nate Diaz.
Nate Diaz has cleaner technique than Henderson’s previous opponents. While it’s true that Diaz has had trouble dealing with wrestling-heavy grapplers in the past, his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills are stronger now. Good enough to scare off fighters like Donald Cerrone and to submit fighters like Jim Miller.
It doesn’t matter that Henderson has practically mocked the submission abilities of Miller, Bocek, Guida and Cerrone, who collectively have 47 submission wins out of 80 total career wins
What matters is that Nate Diaz will force Benson Henderson to tap if Henderson doesn’t respect his skills.
I love statistics. Love them. I love fantasy sports. I love reading about the economy. I love reading about sales figures for video games. I love anything that can be quantified and contrasted with something else. So naturally, I love looking at number…
I love statistics. Love them.
I love fantasy sports. I love reading about the economy. I love reading about sales figures for video games. I love anything that can be quantified and contrasted with something else.
So naturally, I love looking at numbers from CompuStrike and FightMetric when it comes to controversial decisions.
Not coincidentally, we had a pretty controversial decision last weekend with Ben Henderson getting the better end of a razor-thin split decision over Frankie Edgar.
In the fallout, a number of my Bleacher Report compatriots have started playing the numbersgame when it comes to the decision. You can check out the official stats here (via FightMetric).
The numbers, obviously, are extremely close. Sixty-six total strikes for Edgar compared to 62 for Henderson. Deeper analysis of those metrics can go either way (Henderson landed more power shots and strikes to the head total, Edgar landed more total strikes in three of five rounds, etc.).
What that breaks down to, precisely, is that people are nitpicking and arguing over two or three strikes per round. Literally. Two or three strikes. When you’re trying to make something big out of the teeniest, tiniest details, it is time to step back and realize that things are sometimes simply too close to call.
The numbers, ultimately, agree with that particular sentiment more than any other. Far too many are saying Edgar was robbed and are pointing to the numbers as evidence. The thing is, compared to past controversial decisions, Henderson vs. Edgar II is simply not in the same ballpark according to the tallies.
Take, for example, UFC 104’s Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. That fight, like this one, had many up in arms about the decision, which was unanimously in favor of Machida. Machida vs. Rua, though, actually looked the part of a bad decision on-paper.
While Edgar vs. Henderson, once again, had 66 strikes to 62 in favor of Edgar, Machida vs. Rua I had 82 strikes landed by Rua against 42 by Machida. If my math is right, 40 is a lot more than four. What’s more, Rua landed more hits per round in all five rounds.
Other notorious decisions are similarly lopsided on paper. The first bout between Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan had 102 strikes landed by Phan against 64 by Garcia. That, obviously, is also substantially more lopsided than 66 to 62.
Looking back further to UFC 75, Matt Hamill landed 88 strikes to Michael Bisping’s 62, and also had six takedowns to his credit. Again, Hammill ended up losing out on the score cards when he clearly outworked Bisping by a greater statistical margin than UFC 150‘s headline.
These decisions are held among the worst in the history of the sport and, clearly, the statistics actually back that up. Statistics, though useful in further investigating fights, are by no means the be-all and end-all determinant of a winner.
It is worth pointing out that there have been a few fights that had bad decisions on paper, but generated little to no outcry.
Looking strictly at the numbers, Kenny Florian should be the current UFC featherweight champion, as he landed more significant strikes against Jose Aldo in three of five rounds, and more total strikes in four of five rounds when they fought at UFC 136.
Similarly, in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, Fabricio Werdum actually landed more significant strikes than Alistair Overeem in two of three rounds, and landed more total strikes in all three.
Taking all these into consideration, labeling Henderson vs. Edgar II a “robbery” based on the numbers is not really accurate. In past controversial decisions, the numbers have been clearly skewed in favor of the loser.
The numbers, in reality, suggest what everyone acknowledges: The fight was very, very close on the whole, and even closer round by round.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a big Benson Henderson fan, but I also had the fight scored three rounds to two in favor of Edgar going into the announcement (Rounds 2, 4 and 5 for Edgar, 1 and 3 for Henderson).
The thing is, even among those crying that Edgar was robbed, there is no consensus on which rounds Edgar won (assuming they are saying he won three rounds, of course).
Looking at the numbers, I can see why judges would score the fight in favor of Henderson. After all, there were three very close rounds, and the old mantra “to be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ” makes it clear where the edge should go, and the edge almost always goes that way.
One of the few times it did not was at UFC 112 where Frankie Edgar faced off with then-champion B.J. Penn who, according to FightMetric, should have kept his belt. Such, though, is the nature of leaving it in the hands of the judges and, worse yet, leaving it to the judges when you have not actually established yourself as the winner.
Sometimes it goes one way. Other times, it goes the other way. For the first time, really, it did not go Edgar’s way.
Benson Henderson came away with a controversial victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 150, and the outcome is taking away from the rivalry between the two fighters.UFC 150 showcased a battle between the two fighters for a second time, and the outcome was t…
Benson Henderson came away with a controversial victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 150, and the outcome is taking away from the rivalry between the two fighters.
UFC 150 showcased a battle between the two fighters for a second time, and the outcome was the same as the first.
Henderson walked away from both fights as the victor, but it was close both times. As Fox Sports lists the results of UFC 144, he came away as the clear winner in the first matchup. The three judges all agreed he won, and he came away with a unanimous 49-46, 48-47, 49-46 decision.
The second meeting managed to be even better than the first.
Jeff Wagenheim of Sports Illustrated breaks down the latest fight, and he believes Edgar should have been named the new lightweight champion.
While two judges ruled 48-47 in favor of Henderson, one judge scored the fight 49-46 in Edgar’s favor. It was about as close as it gets, but the controversial outcome now overshadows the great battle.
Round 1 belonged to Henderson, but Edgar got stronger as the fight went on. Edgar appeared to take command in the fight during Round 4 with a great showing, but two of the judges awarded the round to Henderson. Round 4 was the turning point in the match, but it ended up going against Edgar on the scorecards.
Henderson and Edgar are about as evenly matched as it gets. The first two matches were scored closely, and it now creates even more drama. Whether or not the second outcome was the right decision, the Henderson-Edgar rivalry will be known for the controversy.
This has the making to be one of the best rivalries in UFC, but they will need to move on from this decision. The two fighters could not have had closer fights than what they had in UFC 144 and UFC 150.
One positive may come from this controversial result: a third fight. The close fights will lead to demand for a rematch, and Edgar will be pushing for a chance to win.
Controversy can set the stage for a rematch, and Henderson also has something to prove. People are questioning the decision of the latest fight, so he needs to show he was the better fighter.
A third fight will not change the outcome in this fight, but it will allow Henderson and Edgar to battle again to see who is the rightful lightweight champion.
Ben Henderson defended his title for the first time at UFC 150 on the weekend against former champion Frankie Edgar. He has cemented his position at the top of the UFC’s lightweight division and has all the potential to become the promotion&rsquo…
Ben Henderson defended his title for the first time at UFC 150 on the weekend against former champion Frankie Edgar. He has cemented his position at the top of the UFC’s lightweight division and has all the potential to become the promotion’s next big star.
He is now undefeated in five straight matches and holds an admirable 17-2 record.
His only loss in the last five years has come at the hands of Anthony Pettis, who hasn’t made anywhere the near the same impact since entering the UFC as Henderson has.
However, it’s clear that Henderson isn’t the big UFC name yet. The live gate for his first headline event as champion drew a paltry $650,000 —the worst figures since 2007, according to Dana White.
Compare that to the nearly $2.1 million light heavyweight sensation Jon Jones drew in his first title defence against Quinton Jackson last year.
That fight also, ironically, took place in Denver, Colorado, the scene of last Saturday’s event, and it underscores the gulf between the two stars.
An explanation for this could be that Jones fought eight times for the promotion before his first title defence, compared to Henderson’s four fights. It could also be that Jones, without exception, finished everyone put in front of him.
That can hardly be said of Henderson, who has gone the distance in all of his UFC fights.
As it stands, Henderson, as big of a talent as he is, will have to prove himself against some of the other competition in the stacked lightweight division.
He is next scheduled to fight Nate Diaz, a huge name in his own right and one that could greatly enhance Henderson’s status in the sport. That could be the first of many fights that would make him the UFC’s next big star as long as he can hold the belt for a little while longer.
The big question, considering the depth of talent in the lightweights, is whether Hendo can really clean out the division. He is a fighter constantly adding to his game and improving his skill set and there is no reason why he can’t.
After his second heartbreaking loss in as many fights against Benson Henderson, former champion