Jim Miller | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Ben Henderson Open to UFC Title Shot or Clay Guida – Then ‘Everybody’

Filed under: UFC, News

Ben Henderson isn’t the type to call someone out.

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.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: UFC, News

Ben Henderson isn’t the type to call someone out.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Two Sheds Review: Lytle Retires with Big Win over Hardy at UFC on Versus 5

With ESPN unwilling to cough up a few extra quid to show UFC shows outside of their regular contract, it was Premier Sports who stepped in so British fans could watch Chris Lytle’s final fight against Dan Hardy in the early hours of this past Mon…

The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Amir Sadollah faced Duane Ludwig.

This proved to be an intriguing three-round encounter. Ludwig did a great job in the striking department in the first two rounds, his big left hook rocking Sadollah a number of times. When Sadollah went for the takedown, Ludwig was able to escape quite easily.

Although Sadollah upped his game a little in the third, he still looked a step behind Ludwig. He scored with a couple of good kicks, but his punches looked slow and sluggish. The fight ended with Ludwig scoring a takedown.

So with the fight going the distance, it was over to the judges. All three gave the fight to Ludwig. Awesome performance.

It was down to the lightweight division for the next fight, as Charles Oliveira took on Donald Cerrone.

A short feeling-out period at the beginning of this one saw both men testing the waters with punches and kicks. There was a brief pause following Cerrone’s inadvertent kick south of the border, but when the action began, the striking just got better and better.

The end came when Cerrone scored with a hook to the body. Oliveira went down, and Cerrone went in for the kill with the ground and pound. The referee stepped in to give Cerrone the impressive TKO win.

The lightweight action continued with Jim Miller against Ben Henderson.

Henderson put in a tremendous performance here. For the first two rounds, Miller went for a variety of submission attempts—from chokes to leg locks to arm locks—but Henderson managed to escape each and every time, coming back with some wicked-looking ground and pound. He busted Miller open with an elbow in the second round.

Miller dropped his man in the third, but Henderson looked even better than he had in the first two rounds, controlling the fight on the ground and almost getting the win with a rear naked choke, as well as unleashing more awesome strikes.

Once again the judges were called into action, with all three giving the fight to Henderson. Surely the former WEC champion is ready for a UFC title shot now!

The main event featured welterweight action as Hardy faced Lytle in Lytle’s last ever fight.

This proved to be a great main event. For nearly 15 minutes Hardy and Lytle engaged in a tremendous striking battle. Hardy tried a kick early on, but when Lytle caught his leg Hardy never threw another kick, preferring to box with Lytle instead.

Both guys had their moments throughout the fight, but the fact that Lytle was getting Hardy to fight his kind of fight said a lot about his tactics. Just when it looked like Hardy was upping his game in the final moments of the fight, Lytle went for a guillotine on the ground.

The Brit tried to fight back, but it wasn’t long before he tapped out in the final minute of the fight to give Lytle the submission win. A fitting ending to one of the UFC’s best fighters.

In conclusion: For a while it looked like Brits would have to sit in front of their computers or look for a download site to see this show—until Premier Sports came in at the last minute, offering this show for free. I’m glad they did because this was a great show.

The four fights featured here certainly delivered, but I can’t decide if Miller/Henderson or Hardy/Lytle was the better fight.

As for Premier Sports coverage, kudos to this subscription channel for giving British fans the chance to see this for free, even if they did suffer from the ESPN problem of coming back late from commercial breaks a couple of times.

But who knows, maybe this will be the proverbial kick up the backside ESPN needs because I know a lot of people only subscribe to the channel to see the UFC. If they thought Premier Sports (or Sky Sports for that matter) might bid for the rights when ESPN’s contract is up, they may consider sticking their hands in their pockets and buying the rights to the shows that weren’t in their original contract.

So, in all, the UFC’s fifth foray onto America’s Versus channel gets the thumbs up from me for its all-around quality.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Forward Roll: UFC on Versus 5 Edition

Filed under: UFCUFC on Versus: Hardy vs. Lytle could have been the rarest of events that saw both main event fighters exit the UFC right after competing. Instead, it saw Chris Lytle walk away on a glorious note, retiring after his submission win, while…

Filed under: UFC

UFC on Versus: Hardy vs. Lytle could have been the rarest of events that saw both main event fighters exit the UFC right after competing. Instead, it saw Chris Lytle walk away on a glorious note, retiring after his submission win, while Dan Hardy was given one more chance from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta despite losing his fourth straight bout.

In reality, it was a fair conclusion for both fighters, who fought a hard-nosed battle for nearly 15 minutes before the ending. Lytle gets the distinction of walking away on a high while Hardy is afforded the opportunity to decompress, clear his mind and determine a new course of action going forward. While any thoughts of returning back to contender status are for off into the future, he has a pulse, and for now, that will have to do.

With that, we take a look at what might be next for Hardy and the rest of UFC on Versus 5‘s key participants, in this edition of The Forward Roll.

Dan Hardy
It’s been a brutal 17-month stretch for Hardy, who lost bouts to Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit, Anthony Johnson and now Lytle. Afterward, he mentioned wanting to take some time off, and that’s a request that should be granted. Losing is often harder on the mind than the body, and Hardy should get the chance to heal both.

Hopefully, we don’t see him back in the octagon until spring is breaking. Given a lengthy layoff, it’s tough to project who he might face — a lot will happen in the next six or seven months — but someone like TJ Grant or Amir Sadollah sounds about right.

Ben Henderson
Casting aside Lytle’s emotional goodbye, Henderson was the star of the show, with a spectacular performance against Jim Miller in a high-stakes bout.

The fact that Miller was riding a seven-fight win streak made it impressive enough as it was, but having seen Miller throughout his career, we can say that he just doesn’t get dominated like that. Not even current champ Frank Edgar or current No. 1 contender Gray Maynard handled him the way Henderson did. Impressively, he continues to improve his standup game, but does his best work with wrestling and ferocious ground and pound. He also keeps a ridiculous pace, even for a lightweight.

The performance should quiet all doubters about Henderson’s ability and just how far he can go. It also rockets him up the contenders list, and he gets stars from here onward.

The next man on his list should be Clay Guida, who is riding a four-fight win streak and has nothing scheduled. The winner should next fight for the title.

Jim Miller
Sure he gets knocked down a couple of pegs, but given his recent run, there’s no reason to write Miller off as a future No. 1 contender.

The good news for him is that there is such a glut of top lightweights that there should be no problems in finding him a good matchup. The two best possibilities may be Dennis Siver, who is currently riding a four-fight win streak, or Sam Stout, who is coming off a fantastic knockout over Yves Edwards. Another possibility is Anthony Pettis, who lost to Guida in June.

Donald Cerrone
Previously considered an uneven performer, Cerrone seems to have figured out the issues that led to slow starts in the past. His first-round TKO win over the promising Charles Oliveira was his third victory of 2011 and fifth straight overall.

A good next step for him would be Jeremy Stephens, who has captured four of his last five, with his only loss coming in a close split-decision.

Charles Oliveira
For the first time in his career, Oliveira looked outmatched in the loss to Cerrone, who easily handled him in the striking and overwhelmed him on the ground. After losses in two of his last three, he has a decision to make as far as if he wants to stay in the 155-pound division or move to featherweight.

The UFC usually doesn’t force their hand in these matters, but they could cut Oliveira if they wanted to, so they have the leverage to ask him to reconsider a move. I think he will try 145. Let’s throw him in with a ground shark like Javier Vazquez and see if he sinks or swins.

Duane Ludwig
After a long welterweight run, Ludwig returned to welterweight and has now won two straight after throttling Amir Sadollah. The knock on Ludwig has always been grappling troubles, and his last two matchups have been favorable as he’s faced a pair of strikers.

That should change in his next match, but it probably won’t. Instead, the UFC will likely match him up in another bout that will guarantee good standup action. Let’s slot him in to face Matt Brown.

Jared Hamman
The wiry Hamman always seemed out of place among the UFC’s massive light-heavyweights. In his middleweight debut, he looked to be in the right class.

As a relative newcomer to the division, he shouldn’t be rushed along. Rafael Natal is about right.

Ed Herman
It’s hard to be believe, but Herman and Michael Bisping are the only two fighters remaining in the UFC from season three of The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately, he’s had terrible luck with injuries, missing nearly two years of action before returning with back-to-back wins.

He was fighting Aaron Simpson when he first injured his knee. It would be nice to give him another crack at Simpson, but the “A-Train” already has a fight scheduled in October, so we’ll have to go to plan B, Constantinos Philippou.

Joseph Benavidez
Benavidez is in a terrible position right now, stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Dominick Cruz, who has beaten him twice, yet is standing in front of him as the champion, meaning no rematch is likely anytime soon. The hard place is the lack of a flyweight division, which he will likely relocate to as soon as the UFC institutes it. So he is left to continue on with little chance of fighting for a belt until either Cruz loses or the UFC makes the move for 125-pounders.

There really aren’t many compelling fights for him right now. One possibility is a Miguel Torres rematch. The other is surging 20-year-old Michael McDonald.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC Lightweight Spotlight: Is Ben Henderson Good Enough to win the UFC Title?

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.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Top 10 Lightweights: Who Deserves the Next Shot?

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…

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, Lightweights

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.

Top 10 Lightweights in Mixed Martial Arts

(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.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC on Versus 5: Memorable Moments from the Event

UFC on Versus 5 is in the books and as MMA fans had hoped, the card had its share of memorable moments.The memorable moments from Milwaukee, Wisc., began with Saturday’s weigh in and ended after the final horn had sounded for the main event. In total, …

UFC on Versus 5 is in the books and as MMA fans had hoped, the card had its share of memorable moments.

The memorable moments from Milwaukee, Wisc., began with Saturday’s weigh in and ended after the final horn had sounded for the main event. In total, the first UFC fight card to take place in Milwaukee was a success.

Without further delay, Bleacher Report MMA presents the most memorable moments from the UFC on Versus 5 fight card.

Begin Slideshow