UFC Live: Hardy vs Lytle delivered the goods. Out of 12 total bouts, only five went to a decision.Heading into the main event, I was sure some of the earlier scraps would earn “Fight of the Night”, but low and behold, it was the main event that o…
UFC Live: Hardy vs Lytle delivered the goods. Out of 12 total bouts, only five went to a decision.
Heading into the main event, I was sure some of the earlier scraps would earn “Fight of the Night”, but low and behold, it was the main event that officially earned the UFC’s “Fight of the Night”.
Chris Lytle vs Dan Hardy was an excellent battle, but was it the best fight of the night?
Which fights got overlooked by the glitz and glamour of the main event?
These are the five best fights from UFC Live on Versus 5: Lytle vs Hardy.
MILWAUKEE – It all could have been so simple. Then Ben Henderson went and messed everything up.
The former WEC lightweight champ won his second straight in the UFC, dispatching Jim Miller – one of the most vocal critics of the WEC’s lightweights at the time of the merger with the UFC – with relative ease on Sunday night.
But Henderson’s win over Miller in the co-main event of UFC on Versus 5 did more than just make a statement about the quality of the former WEC 155-pounders. (Donald Cerrone shared the victory stage with Henderson after improving to 3-0 in the UFC in 2011.) It eliminated Miller and his seven-fighting winning streak, which would have reached eight had he beaten Henderson, as the easy choice for the next No. 1 contender in the UFC’s lightweight division.
Instead of a clear-cut top pick to face the October winner of the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard rematch, there’s a tight pack at the top – including Henderson and Cerrone. But Henderson, for the most part, said he would leave that top contender decision in the hands of the UFC and let his win over Miller do the talking for him.
“I just want to make sure I get my hand raised and I’ll do my talking inside the cage,” Henderson said. “But what do you guys think? (I beat) the No. 1 contender, and that kind of a performance? You tell me. What does Dana (White) think? What does Joe Silva think? What does Sean Shelby think?”
Henderson told MMA Fighting at the post-fight press conference he believes there are several fighters clamoring to get the shot now that Miller has to go back to Square One, including Cerrone and his teammates at Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, N.M.
“Jackson’s camp has some tough 155-pounders,” Henderson said. “I think the top guys are (Clay) Guida, (Melvin) Guillard, probably myself. But whoever. Whatever.”
Cerrone took a quick shot at Miller’s criticism of the WEC lightweights before saying he believes Henderson should be next in line for his domination over the previous presumed top contender.
“We’re not the little brother, right? I think the little brother just beat up the big brother. It feels good for the WEC boys to be back on Versus making it happen,” Cerrone said. “I think Ben is next – unless he wants to fight me. That would be the only other thing.”
A Cerrone-Henderson matchup next would not be out of the question, though the UFC might not want to pair up two of its newest stars-in-the-making so soon. Henderson and Cerrone have fought twice before, each time with the WEC’s lightweight belt on the line. Cerrone’s last two losses have come at the hands of Henderson – once by decision for the interim title, and once by guillotine in their rematch.
Cerrone saw his winning streak hit five with a quick and dominant TKO against Charles Oliveira, one of the UFC’s most highly touted young talents. His five straight wins now stand right next to Guillard’s five straight, though two of Cerrone’s came to close out his WEC career.
Guida has four straight wins, including an upset of former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis in June. Other fighters with four straight in the division include Nik Lentz and Jacob Volkmann, though neither have been as high profile as Guida.
Guillard is scheduled to fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 136 on Oct. 8 in Houston, the same night as the Edgar-Maynard rematch. Guida does not yet have his next fight scheduled.
MILWAUKEE – Jim Miller might be wishing he could take back his initial comments about the WEC’s lightweights coming over to the UFC.
Though Miller softened his stance that the WEC 155-pounders might not be worthy of UFC status during a media call 10 days ago, he may want to wipe the entire thing from his memory.
Sunday, in the co-main event of UFC on Versus 5, former WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson had little problem with Miller – snapping his seven-fight UFC winning streak and sending him back to the middle of the pack in the division and eliminating him from the near-term title picture.
Henderson, who is now 2-0 in the UFC, said he wasn’t sure who the top contender for the title should be – but wouldn’t argue if it was him.
“I’m not really sure – I just want to make sure I get my hand raised and I’ll do my talking inside the cage,” Henderson said. “But what do you guys think? The No. 1 contender, and that kind of a performance? You tell me. What does Dana (White) think? What does Joe Silva think? What does Sean Shelby think?”
Henderson said the win was the biggest of his career – and that includes winning the WEC lightweight title, as well as retaining it before losing it to Anthony Pettis in December.
“I think (this is the biggest win of my career),” Henderson said. “Every fight, my career has gone along a certain path, steadily going up. I had a minor hiccup (against Pettis) and I got over that. But this is the biggest fight of my career so far, and I think I did a good job and my work inside the cage will speak for itself.
With Miller’s seven-fight streak snapped, there is a new logjam in the lightweight division for next top contender. Frankie Edgar defends his belt in a rematch against Gray Maynard on Oct. 8 in Houston. But who will the winner get? It was presumed to be Miller, had he won.
Now Clay Guida has won four straight and doesn’t yet have his next fight booked following his win over Pettis in June. Melvin Guillard is on a five-fight streak and meets Joe Lauzon in October. Former WEC star Donald Cerrone has won five straight. And then there’s Henderson.
But one thing is for certain – Henderson got the last laugh when it comes to Miller’s assessment of the WEC’s 155 pounders.
“I’ll just say this,” Henderson said, before throwing up a big grin he hoped would do the talking for him.
What an absolutely amazing night of fights. UFC Live on Versus 5 did not disappoint with the tremendous matchups. Nor did the fighters disappoint in their performances leaving the fans at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the millions vie…
What an absolutely amazing night of fights. UFC Live on Versus 5 did not disappoint with the tremendous matchups. Nor did the fighters disappoint in their performances leaving the fans at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the millions viewing on Versus worldwide, wanting more action.
Highlighting the evening’s card was the final fight for the welterweight journeyman, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle.
In customary style, this Indianapolis, Indiana native took to the center of the Octagon and delivered an overhand right with bad intentions on “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy within seconds of the opening bell.
This mixed martial arts contest became more of a quintessential boxing matchup as both welterweight competitors battered each other through three grueling rounds.
As the back-and-forth affair was coming to a close in Round 3, Lytle capitalized on a mistake by Hardy and sunk in a deep guillotine choke securing a submission victory in his last UFC fight.
Lytle’s performance was not to be undone, as five other mixed martial artists secured upset victories in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
A truly epic night of fights. Please follow along as I recap the biggest upsets from UFC Live on Versus 5.
Thank you again Chris Lytle for all that you have provided us inside the Octagon and everything you have done as a role model and ambassador for the UFC outside of the cage. Your legacy will not be forgotten.
I welcome your comments.
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Well, the way I look at Sunday night, the Jim Miller hype train was robbed by Ben “Smooth” Henderson.Miller came into this fight looking for a victory, and with it, a title shot against the winner of Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard.Unfortunately, he was pre…
Well, the way I look at Sunday night, the Jim Miller hype train was robbed by Ben “Smooth” Henderson.
Miller came into this fight looking for a victory, and with it, a title shot against the winner of Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard.
Unfortunately, he was pretty effectively mauled by Benderson.
Miller has now only lost three times in his career—to Henderson, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.
If Miller wants to get back in contention, he is going to have to take a fight to get back on track. Here are a few opponents he could face.
Chris Lytle ended his MMA career in a way that most fighters do not—with a win.On Saturday, Lytle announced that his bout against Dan Hardy would be his last. Proving to all that he wanted to put on one last great performance for the fans, Lytle …
Chris Lytle ended his MMA career in a way that most fighters do not—with a win.
On Saturday, Lytle announced that his bout against Dan Hardy would be his last. Proving to all that he wanted to put on one last great performance for the fans, Lytle stood and traded with Hardy for 14 minutes, before securing the victory with a guillotine choke.
In other action, Ben Henderson made his case for the No. 1 contender position in the lightweight division when he went “beastmode” on Jim Miller for three rounds.
As the betting underdog, Donald Cerrone, scored his first ever knockout victory when he made quick work of Charles Oliveria.
And in the opening bout on Versus, Duane Ludwig put on a Muay Thai clinic for three rounds against Amir Sadollah.
So despite the fact that they won or lost, how did each fighter perform? Read on to find out.
MILWAUKEE – It all could have been so simple. Then 
MILWAUKEE –