We asked, you answered, and the results are in. Our loyal readers believe that a match against Clay Guida should be next for Ben Henderson. After Henderson’s victory at UFC on Versus 5, we asked you who you believed Henderson should fight next. An…
We asked, you answered, and the results are in. Our loyal readers believe that a match against Clay Guida should be next for Ben Henderson.
After Henderson’s victory at UFC on Versus 5, we asked you who you believed Henderson should fight next. An overwhelming majority—60 percent—of those who voted believed that Henderson should square off against Guida in his next match; the winner of Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard matchup came in at a distant second.
In his fight against Miller, Henderson looked like he took his game from “good” to “Beastmode.” Miller tried for multiple submissions during their 15-minute battle, but Henderson remained composed, worked his way out of each attempt, and made Miller’s face pay dearly in the process. Henderson would go on to win the bout by way of unanimous decision.
With zero doubt, Henderson is a top 10 lightweight. After his highly impressive performances against Miller and Mark Bocek, it would be difficult to argue otherwise.
A match against Guida for a future shot at the lightweight title could be a war for the ages—if Guida wanted it to be.
Guida has recently been chastised for “playing it safe” instead of fighting with the pace and fire that we have become accustomed to. But with a potential title shot on the line, we may see the Guida of old; the one we have all come to love.
But we will find out should the UFC make it happen.
Be sure to vote on the current poll and look for the results early next week.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller arrested for putting his sister in a headlock. Man, I didn’t know I could have pressed charges on my brother every time he kept me from grabbing the remote control. Damn it!.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller arrested for putting his sister in a headlock. Man, I didn’t know I could have pressed charges on my brother every time he kept me from grabbing the remote control. Damn it! Also some new Bellator Russian fighter is accused of murder: here.
Kenny Florian takes over color commentating for UFC 134 while Joe Rogan films Fear Factor: here.
Dana White talks Brock Lesnar‘s return in 2012 and more on that Fox tv deal, you may not have heard of yet: here.
Rashad Evans tells TMZ about his hand and wrist injury that’s forced him into a cast: here.
Kim Kardashian‘s wedding dress for Saturday revealed: here.
Clay Guida and Playboy Playmate of 2003, Charis Burrett are hosting Silver Star Clothing’s MAGIC Party this Monday, Aug. 22 at Tabù Ultra Lounge in MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Enjoy some NSFW pics of Charis Burrett below:
But he is, apparently, the type to call everyone out. Not yet 48 hours removed from what he called the biggest win of his career – and that includes winning and defending the WEC lightweight title – Henderson kept his options for what’s next wide ranging.
“I want to fight everybody,” Henderson told host Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” on Tuesday. “Literally. I want to beat everybody on the 155-pound roster in the UFC. I want to smash everybody. I want everybody put on notice. I’m not coming for a belt. I’m coming to beat you.”
Henderson was a slight underdog Sunday against Jim Miller, who had built up the UFC’s longest winning streak outside champions Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre with seven straight victories. But after surviving some first-round submission attempts from Miller, Henderson turned on the heat and dominated the fight, even winning 30-26 on one judge’s scorecard.
UFC president Dana White had intimated that Miller was in line for the next title shot if he took out Henderson. With that scenario off the table after Sunday night, White and matchmaker Joe Silva have a decision on their hands, and Henderson could be at the heart of it.
The former WEC champ, who lost his title in December to Anthony Pettis after Pettis delivered his now-famous kick-off-the-cage to Henderson’s face, sees no reason why he shouldn’t’ get the next title shot after Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard rematch on Oct. 8.
“My job is to fight,” Henderson said. “I will say if Dana, Lorenzo (Fertitta), Sean (Shelby) and Joe give me a title shot, I will take it and I will have a great performance. But if it’s not a title shot, that’s fine too. Going against the No. 1 contender, after you have that sort of performance against the No. 1 contender, what else is there? Not a close decision, not squeak by … what’s the next logical step? There’s the winner of the title fight.”
Some of the other names in the lightweight division that have gotten traction are Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone. Guillard has won five straight, but already has a fight booked against Joe Lauzon at UFC 136, the same night Edgar and Maynard rematch for Edgar’s belt. Cerrone just beat Charles Oliveira to see his streak reach five – three in the UFC after winning his last two WEC bouts. Guida is coming off a unanimous decision win over Pettis, who was the top contender until the Edgar-Maynard draw put him in a holding pattern that Guida spoiled.
Guillard, Guida and Cerrone are all members of the Greg Jackson camp and aren’t likely to fight each other any time soon. So the fight that has been mentioned the most is between Guida and Henderson, with the winner getting next crack at the belt.
“If you think about it, Guida beat the No. 1 contender in Pettis, and I beat Jim Miller who was No. 1 contender,” Henderson said. “So I guess it does make sense for him and I to match up. I have no problem with that. Guida, we know, will fight anyone. But why fight someone if you can get the next title shot? Why take an extra fight if you can get the title shot?”
Guida may be thinking the same thing – why fight Henderson, risk a loss and get sent to the back of the pack the way Henderson did to Miller and Guida did to Pettis? Which means that they’re both likely just waiting for the UFC to make a decision.
Tuesday, also on “The MMA Hour,” Henderson’s agent, Malki Kawa, said he sees no reason his client shouldn’t just be next in line. Though Henderson has only won two straight fights, both in the UFC, his only loss since 2007 came to Pettis in December, and it was a fight that likely was decided by Pettis’ kick in the final minute of the fight. Had Henderson won the fifth round, he would have walked away with a split decision win instead of a unanimous decision loss.
“I think he deserves a title shot,” Kawa said “My philosophy is, Jim MIller was the No. 1 contender. To me, (Henderson) beat up the outright No. 1 contender. He didn’t just beat the guy in a close fight – he dominated this guy. He separated himself from a lot of guys.”
Henderson said he prefers more time than most in between fights so he can actually find the areas he needs to improve and work on them. And thanks to some elbows to Miller’s head, he’ll be waiting on the results of an X-ray, too. If he is to get the next lightweight title shot, he’ll likely have plenty of time to wait. Assuming the winner of Edgar-Maynard comes out of that fight reasonably healthy, his first defense is not likely until early 2012 at the soonest.
But he is, apparently, the type to call everyone out. Not yet 48 hours removed from what he called the biggest win of his career – and that includes winning and defending the WEC lightweight title – Henderson kept his options for what’s next wide ranging.
“I want to fight everybody,” Henderson told host Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” on Tuesday. “Literally. I want to beat everybody on the 155-pound roster in the UFC. I want to smash everybody. I want everybody put on notice. I’m not coming for a belt. I’m coming to beat you.”
Henderson was a slight underdog Sunday against Jim Miller, who had built up the UFC’s longest winning streak outside champions Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre with seven straight victories. But after surviving some first-round submission attempts from Miller, Henderson turned on the heat and dominated the fight, even winning 30-26 on one judge’s scorecard.
UFC president Dana White had intimated that Miller was in line for the next title shot if he took out Henderson. With that scenario off the table after Sunday night, White and matchmaker Joe Silva have a decision on their hands, and Henderson could be at the heart of it.
The former WEC champ, who lost his title in December to Anthony Pettis after Pettis delivered his now-famous kick-off-the-cage to Henderson’s face, sees no reason why he shouldn’t’ get the next title shot after Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard rematch on Oct. 8.
“My job is to fight,” Henderson said. “I will say if Dana, Lorenzo (Fertitta), Sean (Shelby) and Joe give me a title shot, I will take it and I will have a great performance. But if it’s not a title shot, that’s fine too. Going against the No. 1 contender, after you have that sort of performance against the No. 1 contender, what else is there? Not a close decision, not squeak by … what’s the next logical step? There’s the winner of the title fight.”
Some of the other names in the lightweight division that have gotten traction are Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone. Guillard has won five straight, but already has a fight booked against Joe Lauzon at UFC 136, the same night Edgar and Maynard rematch for Edgar’s belt. Cerrone just beat Charles Oliveira to see his streak reach five – three in the UFC after winning his last two WEC bouts. Guida is coming off a unanimous decision win over Pettis, who was the top contender until the Edgar-Maynard draw put him in a holding pattern that Guida spoiled.
Guillard, Guida and Cerrone are all members of the Greg Jackson camp and aren’t likely to fight each other any time soon. So the fight that has been mentioned the most is between Guida and Henderson, with the winner getting next crack at the belt.
“If you think about it, Guida beat the No. 1 contender in Pettis, and I beat Jim Miller who was No. 1 contender,” Henderson said. “So I guess it does make sense for him and I to match up. I have no problem with that. Guida, we know, will fight anyone. But why fight someone if you can get the next title shot? Why take an extra fight if you can get the title shot?”
Guida may be thinking the same thing – why fight Henderson, risk a loss and get sent to the back of the pack the way Henderson did to Miller and Guida did to Pettis? Which means that they’re both likely just waiting for the UFC to make a decision.
Tuesday, also on “The MMA Hour,” Henderson’s agent, Malki Kawa, said he sees no reason his client shouldn’t just be next in line. Though Henderson has only won two straight fights, both in the UFC, his only loss since 2007 came to Pettis in December, and it was a fight that likely was decided by Pettis’ kick in the final minute of the fight. Had Henderson won the fifth round, he would have walked away with a split decision win instead of a unanimous decision loss.
“I think he deserves a title shot,” Kawa said “My philosophy is, Jim MIller was the No. 1 contender. To me, (Henderson) beat up the outright No. 1 contender. He didn’t just beat the guy in a close fight – he dominated this guy. He separated himself from a lot of guys.”
Henderson said he prefers more time than most in between fights so he can actually find the areas he needs to improve and work on them. And thanks to some elbows to Miller’s head, he’ll be waiting on the results of an X-ray, too. If he is to get the next lightweight title shot, he’ll likely have plenty of time to wait. Assuming the winner of Edgar-Maynard comes out of that fight reasonably healthy, his first defense is not likely until early 2012 at the soonest.
Wrestling haters of MMA, your prayers have been answered.Ben “Smooth” Henderson handled Jim Miller with some difficulty, but he survived the submission attempts and delivered the most punishment that any man has ever inflicted on Miller en route to his…
Wrestling haters of MMA, your prayers have been answered.
Ben “Smooth” Henderson handled Jim Miller with some difficulty, but he survived the submission attempts and delivered the most punishment that any man has ever inflicted on Miller en route to his electrifying unanimous decision win over the AMA Fight Club phenom this past Sunday at UFC on Versus 5.
Miller was seen as a win away from a Clay Guida, a Melvin Gullard or maybe even the winner of Edgar vs. Maynard 3 at UFC 136 if he wanted Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard, but Henderson did what nobody else had done to Miller up to that point, and it’s now attracted quite the conversation.
The same opponents for whom Miller would’ve been lined up are now the opponents for whom Henderson is lined up for if he wished, which asks the question:
“Is The Smooth One good enough to win the belt one day?”
In answering this question with an emphatic, “Yes, he is,” I’d like to also pose a counter-question:
“Is there any good reason to think Ben Henderson will never win the belt one day?”
Now, to that counter-question, I say there is probably one or two good reasons, one being Guillard and the other possibly being Guida, but Miller was also a reason why Bendo would never win the belt.
Guillard is a better striker than Bendo, and Guida could be a much more aggressive threat on the ground than Bendo, but it seems as though it will take a sledgehammer, a sniper-rifle or a trio of Showtime Kicks from Roy Nelson to put the former WEC lightweight champion down.
With Henderson’s improving striking skill set, his already scary submission offense and his indescribably-frighteningly-superb submission defense, it seems unfathomable to believe that Henderson will end his UFC run without winning the UFC lightweight title at least once.
He has the talent and the skills, and now all he needs to do is shut down the men standing between him and either Edgar or Maynard.
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, LightweightsThe UFC’s lightweight division is such a shark tank that it’s incredible that Jim Miller won seven fights in a row against 155-pounders in the Octagon, and won all of them convincing…
The UFC‘s lightweight division is such a shark tank that it’s incredible that Jim Miller won seven fights in a row against 155-pounders in the Octagon, and won all of them convincingly. Even if you’re not fighting the cream of the crop, you’re going to run into trouble at some point when you’re fighting UFC lightweights.
Trouble is just what Miller ran into at UFC on Versus 5, when Ben Henderson hammered him for three rounds on the way to a unanimous decision victory. The Henderson fight was Miller’s chance to earn the next shot at the lightweight title, but instead he gets dropped in the rankings, and it’s back to the drawing board for the UFC, which needs to figure out who’s next for the winner of the upcoming Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard fight.
So who will it be? We take a look at some of the contenders as we rank the Top 10 lightweights in MMA below.
(Editor’s Note: The fighter’s rankings the last time we ranked the lightweights are in parentheses.)
1. Frankie Edgar (1): The lightweight champion defends his title against Gray Maynard at UFC 136, and one way or the other, we can all hope for a decisive ending so that some new blood can fight for the lightweight strap.
2. Gray Maynard (2): One of the frustrating things about the lightweight division is that we’re going to go two full years with only three men competing for the belt: First Edgar beat B.J. Penn, then he beat Penn in the rematch, then Maynard and Edgar fought to a draw, and now they’re preparing for a rematch. There’s a long line of good lightweights waiting for a title shot.
3. Gilbert Melendez (3): Unfortunately for Melendez, he’s still stuck with Strikeforce, defending his belt against Jorge Masvidal next. Masvidal is a fine fighter, but he’s a step down for Melendez. The sooner Melendez is in the UFC, the better.
4. Clay Guida (6): Edgar, Maynard and Melendez are pretty well established as the Top 3 in the world, but watching the Ben Henderson-Jim Miller fight had me re-assessing the rest of the lightweight division, which is a big jumble of good fighters who are hard to separate from each other. I settled on Guida as the next-best of the bunch because of his current four-fight winning streak, in which he has looked particularly dominant, and especially for his impressive win over Anthony Pettis, who in turn had an impressive win over Henderson. If Kenny Florian or Diego Sanchez were still in the lightweight division, I’d rank either one of them ahead of Guida, as they both beat Guida before his current four-fight streak began. But as it is, I have Guida next in line at lightweight, and probably next in line for a title fight.
5. Anthony Pettis (9): The further we get into the world of the post-UFC-WEC merger, the more impressive it seems that Pettis was the WEC’s lightweight champion. When Pettis beat Henderson to win the WEC lightweight belt, we didn’t know that Henderson was capable of beating a Top 10 UFC lightweight like Miller. Now that we do know, it’s reasonable to re-assess Pettis’s standing in the lightweight division, and that’s what I’ve done in moving him into the Top 5.
6. Ben Henderson (NR): The best thing about Henderson as a fighter? His physical strength, especially in his lower body. He uses those tree trunk thighs to drive right through his opponents, and he completely overpowered Miller — something no one has ever done before.
7. Shinya Aoki (4): Aoki is going to have a tough time staying up high in the lightweight rankings if he doesn’t start beating higher-quality competition. The two guys he’s beaten this year, Rich Clementi and Lyle Beerbohm, are fine, but they’re nowhere near the level of opponents he’d be fighting in the UFC. I still think Aoki is a Top 10 lightweight, but I wish I could see him prove it in the Octagon.
8. Melvin Guillard (8): Guillard is currently on a five-fight winning streak, and if he makes it six in a row against Joe Lauzon at UFC 136, he’d have a good chance of earning the next shot at the Edgar-Maynard winner. It’s hard to believe now that Guillard was once viewed as an example of a guy who had thrown away his talent: Now he’s 7-1 since making his UFC return three years ago, and on the verge of a title fight.
9. Jim Miller (5): Miller is a great jiu jitsu practitioner who’s always looking for a submission, but what he found against Henderson is that he just wasn’t strong enough to deal with a bigger man pounding away at him from the top. He might want to consider a move to featherweight.
10. Eddie Alvarez (7): The longer Alvarez goes without fighting significant competition, the harder it’s going to be for him to stay in the lightweight Top 10. Alvarez is 7-0 since signing with Bellator, which is impressive, but none of his seven opponents is even close to the Top 10. And the last time he did face a Top 10 opponent, Shinya Aoki, he was submitted in 92 seconds. I’d love to see Bellator put Alvarez in the cage with someone who can really let him prove that he’s one of the MMA elite, but the reality is that won’t happen any time soon.
It is a somber day amongst the MMA community as we say a collective goodbye to “The Coach” Shawn Tompkins who passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, August 14th in Canada at the age of 37..
It is a somber day amongst the MMA community as we say a collective goodbye to “The Coach” Shawn Tompkins who passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, August 14th in Canada at the age of 37. MMA Fix has only grattitude and respect for Shawn Tompkins. We extend our hearts and support to the Tompkins family.
UFC on Versus 5 drew $539,000 at the gate with 6,751 in attendance.
Chris Lytle officialy retires following submission win over Dan Hardy at UFC on Versus 5.
Lorenzo Fertitta gives Dan Hardy at least one more chance in the UFC.
Ryan Couture will face Maka Watson at Strikeforce Challengers 19. Watson is currently (4-1) in his pro MMA record. 3 of his wins come via submission.
Following Ben Henderson‘s Unanimous Decision win over Jim Miller at UFC on Versus 5, Clay Guida campaigns for next title shot.
Ronda Rousey hopes to return to the Strikeforce cage immediately following her controversial win over Sarah D’Alelio where it appears, referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight after being told by Rousey (and not hearing it himself) that D’Alelio verbally tapped at Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers 18.
We asked, you answered, and the results are in. Our loyal readers believe that a match against Clay Guida should be next for Ben Henderson. 
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