Tag: UFC 150

UFC 150: Video Highlights from Henderson vs. Edgar 2 Fight Card

After a lackluster stretch of PPV’s from the UFC in June and July, it was crucial that UFC 150 righted the ship heading into a number of big time fights in the fall. With a high profile lightweight title main event between Benson Henderson and Fr…

After a lackluster stretch of PPV’s from the UFC in June and July, it was crucial that UFC 150 righted the ship heading into a number of big time fights in the fall.

With a high profile lightweight title main event between Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar, as well as a guaranteed barn burner between Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard, UFC 150 had the ingredients to be an awesome fight card.

Luckily for the UFC, it mostly delivered.

Watch highlights from the event in the video above.

The card started off with a highly technical and entertaining scrap between two of the youngest competitors on the UFC roster in Max Holloway and Justin Lawrence.

Lawrence was the more well known of the two due to his stint on the last season of The Ultimate Fighter, but Holloway had looked impressive in his last fight and the betting lines were fairly even heading into this one.

After a closely contested first round, things were pretty much going the same way heading into the final minute of the second.

Then Holloway turned it on, delivering a pair of crippling body shots that sent Lawrence to the mat and finishing him with a handful follow up shots to secure the win.

Next up on the dance card was a middleweight contest featuring former title challenger Yushin Okami against a relative UFC newcomer in Buddy Roberts.

Roberts came in as a late replacement against Okami after “Thunder” had two different opponents pull out of the fight due to injury, and most considered Roberts to be a sacrificial lamb set up to be slaughtered by Okami.

As it turns out, they were pretty much right.

Okami was in desperate need of a win following two straight losses, and he almost finished the fight in the first round by getting on top of Roberts and raining down punches from his back.

When the bell saved the Team Jackson product in the first, “Thunder” decided he would just do it all over again.

Okami took the back in the second round and once again started pouring it on, this time earning the stoppage win.

Another middleweight that badly needed a win at the event was Jake Shields, who had come into the UFC with a ton of hype but had floundered in the welterweight division with just a 2-2 record.

Squaring off against Ed Herman, Shields used his grappling based attack to completely shut down Herman’s offense. While it wasn’t the most entertaining fight on the card, it earned the former Strikeforce champion the victory.

While fans knew that the Shields-Herman bout had a chance to be a snooze fest, they must have been kept awake due to the potential in the next fight between Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard.

Lucky for us, the fight was everything we thought it would be.

Cerrone came out reckless and got dropped early by a big right hand from Guillard, and after “Cowboy” was able to survive “The Young Assassin’s” furious attack, he landed a solid head kick that put Guillard on wobbly legs.

A follow up right hand from Cerrone ended Guillard’s night, but both men earned a nice fight of the night check for their efforts.

If the Cerrone and Guillard bout was the early favorite to take home the bonus check at the end of the night, the lightweight title fight couldn’t have been too far behind.

Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar went to battle for a full 25 minutes, and while both men had some success, it was Henderson who would walk away with a controversial decision win.

The win wasn’t the best performance of Henderson’s career, but he got the job done against one of the toughest fighters on the planet to out-point and saved his title.

Overall, UFC 150 was a solid event from top to bottom and the entertaining headlining fights made the card well worth the $50 price tag.

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UFC 150 Results: Should MMA Have a Rule Similar to Boxing’s 3-Knockdown Rule?

Athletic commissions should consider adding a variation of boxing’s famous “three-knockdown rule” to further guarantee the safety of MMA fighters. One of the points used to argue that MMA is safer than boxing is that MMA fighters don’t suffer repe…

Athletic commissions should consider adding a variation of boxing’s famous “three-knockdown rule” to further guarantee the safety of MMA fighters. 

One of the points used to argue that MMA is safer than boxing is that MMA fighters don’t suffer repeated head trauma the way boxers do. Once a fighter is knocked down, he’s either finished via ground and pound or the ref stops the fight. There’s no getting up before the count of 10 only to take even more damage.

However, this talking point may not be as valid as it was once thought to be. 

What happened? 

Fights like Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper happened. 

Kuiper beat Hamman from pillar to post throughout the eight or so minutes of their UFC 150 encounter, knocking Hamman down repeatedly and landing crushing blow after crushing blow. 

This fight demonstrated why MMA might need a knockdown rule (maybe not three knockdowns since sometimes slips can happen and may wrongfully be counted as knockdowns, so maybe five knockdowns). 

Such a fight was fun to watch, but it was hard not to feel bad for Hamman, a fighter who was taking a tremendous amount of punishment and was clearly only delaying the inevitable TKO each time he rose back to his feet to continue fighting (especially since Hamman tore his hamstring in the first round).

What was the point of him getting blasted over and over again? Sure, it’s possible that he could’ve pulled off a comeback on the level Cheick Kongo vs. Pay Barry, but such miraculous events don’t happen often in MMA. 

Thus, it’s sometimes better to err on the side of safety.

Just as the cage-side doctors are there to protect fighters from themselves and end a fight when a cut is too devastating, so too should a knockdown rule be there to protect fighters from their indomitable fighting spirit. For what good is their iron will when their brain has been reduced to a flaccid, grey blob capable of only the simplest thoughts?

 

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Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard: What’s Next for Donald Cerrone

Donald Cerrone is one of the best all-around fighters in the lightweight division.Last night at UFC 150, while many believed his jiu-jitsu game would be on display, Cerrone finished the tough veteran Melvin Guillard by knockout and once again threw his…

Donald Cerrone is one of the best all-around fighters in the lightweight division.

Last night at UFC 150, while many believed his jiu-jitsu game would be on display, Cerrone finished the tough veteran Melvin Guillard by knockout and once again threw his name in the hat of top contenders at 155.

So, what’s next for “Cowboy?”

Quite simply, one name comes to mind: Anthony Pettis.

Cerrone had called out Pettis a while back, and now, coming off this win, he looks as if his wish will be granted. 

Cerrone said last night post-fight about Pettis (via mmafighting.com), “Sign the contract and let’s dance, baby!”

Pettis, the former WEC Lightweight Champion, was tentatively named No. 1 contender in the lightweight division following his devastating knockout against Joe Lauzon, but following Nate Diaz’s impressive win against Jim Miller, Diaz leapfrogged Pettis and was named No. 1 contender.

Pettis then called out Diaz, but Diaz would opt to wait for the winner of Henderson-Edgar II.

Now, with Cerrone right up near the top alongside Pettis, the two will likely face off sometime later this year, with the winner likely facing the winner of Ben Henderson and Nate Diaz.

I, for one, can’t wait to see the fireworks Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis will bring, and I’m going to go ahead and say no matter who else is one the card, this has to be a favorite for Fight of the Night.

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Henderson vs. Edgar Results: What Went Wrong for Frankie Edgar at UFC 150

Frankie Edgar has accomplished a great deal in the lightweight division, especially considering that the division looks to be too big for a man his size. For the longest time, Edgar has been fighting and beating the best the lightweight division has to…

Frankie Edgar has accomplished a great deal in the lightweight division, especially considering that the division looks to be too big for a man his size.

For the longest time, Edgar has been fighting and beating the best the lightweight division has to offer, grabbing the title and defending it three times along the way, and all the while he could have been contending as the bigger man in a lower weight class.

Up until his fights with Benson Henderson, Edgar could say he was fighting at lightweight because his size made him the faster, more mobile fighter, and for sure his style of fighting is built upon those very things.

He uses an in-and-out style of striking that takes advantage of his speed and angles, and he’s just at about the right height for the division to make ducking under strikes and getting in deep on those doubles and singles a matter of timing alone.

But Benson Henderson changed all of that for some very simple reasons.

For the first time in a long while, Edgar found himself fighting someone with the same kind of frantic, high-energy style. Henderson was every bit as active as Edgar, both offensively and defensively, and they both covered a great deal of square footage in the cage last night.

Mobility has always been an advantage for Edgar, but Henderson was just as fleet of foot, or at least just as much as he needed to be to utilize one of his greatest weapons: his kicks.

In facing Henderson, the main thing that went wrong for Edgar was as timelessly profound as it was innocent: he lost the clash of styles.

To be brutally honest, I think Edgar could continue to fight with a high degree of success in the lightweight division.

He would have a mobility and style advantage against fighters like Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone and others, and if Jose Aldo moves up to lightweight, I see Edgar as being one of the only men who could give him a true contest.

But against Henderson, he was fighting a man with a longer reach who was his equal in speed and output.

Edgar has proven through his career that he’s got all the tools to overcome almost any perceived disadvantage, but the one thing he cannot do is make his limbs any longer than they already are.

When two swordsmen of equal skill and speed meet up, it’s usually the man with the longer blade who wins, and that’s what we saw at UFC 150. Yes, Edgar had success getting inside and doing damage, but he just didn’t have enough.

Perhaps he should head south of the lightweight border and start mixing it up with men of his height and reach. Given how well he’s done against men larger than himself, it’s hard to imagine anyone (save perhaps Jose Aldo) defeating him at 145.

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Is Jake Shields a Title Contender at Middleweight?

Now that UFC 150 is in the books and Jake Shields is relaxing with a victory over the always tough Ed Herman under his belt, we as fans and devout followers assess last night’s performances and look to the future. When considering Jake Shields, w…

Now that UFC 150 is in the books and Jake Shields is relaxing with a victory over the always tough Ed Herman under his belt, we as fans and devout followers assess last night’s performances and look to the future.

When considering Jake Shields, who clearly has his sights set on a title fight with Anderson Silva, a dark cloud can be seen gathering on his horizon.

Make no mistake about it: Jake Shields is a true fighter. He’s been a champion in lesser organizations and he’s also defeated some damn fine fighters: Dan Henderson, Martin Kampmann, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami to name a few.

Any division he’s fighting in, he’s aiming to win the belt; that’s just how champions think.

He’s a fantastic grappler who finds a way to win, and he’s shown that when the going gets tough, he’s still in it to win it, and that is a very rare thing.

And none of that would be enough to see him defeat Anderson Silva.

As good as Shields is—and he’s very good—he is still the fighter who was defeated by the jab of Georges St-Pierre, and that does not bode well for him.

Yes, GSP and Anderson Silva are very different champions with vastly different styles. But the fact remains that Shields is not going to be bringing anything to the table that Anderson Silva hasn’t had to contend with yet.

In many ways, a fight between Silva and Shields would be reminiscent of Silva’s fight with Demian Maia as Shields doesn’t possess the long-range takedown skills needed to get Silva down to the mat and he’s light years behind Silva in every area of the striking department.

Could Shields take Silva down and submit him? Of course, it is possible—just highly doubtful. It’s not that his grappling isn’t better than Silva’s once the fight hits the floor; it’s getting the champ down that would be so very hard.

Shields would be the smaller man in the fight, at a reach disadvantage, against the best striker in the sport, and like Maia found out, getting close enough to get the takedown is far easier said than done.

If he thought being on the end of GSP’s jab was bad—and it was clearly bad enough that it ruined his welterweight title aspirations—then he’s going to think being strafed at long range by Silva is a nightmare.

If there’s any good news for him at middleweight, it’s that Silva may very well be retired by the time Shields is in any kind of position for a title shot. If that ends up as the case, then he may very well wear UFC gold.

But until then, should Shields want to take the title from Silva by force, he’s going to find that his reach has exceeded his grasp.

Still, when you’re reaching for the stars, falling short still sees you well above just about everyone else.

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Henderson vs. Edgar Results: What Went Right for Benson Henderson

Ever since Frankie Edgar won the lightweight title against the great BJ Penn at UFC 112, things have not been easy for him. He fought two fights, back to back against BJ Penn, then two more against Gray Maynard, and now he’s lost his second strai…

Ever since Frankie Edgar won the lightweight title against the great BJ Penn at UFC 112, things have not been easy for him.

He fought two fights, back to back against BJ Penn, then two more against Gray Maynard, and now he’s lost his second straight bout against Benson Henderson.

During his time as champion, Edgar faced some daunting challenges (especially two brutal first-round beatings at the hands of Gray Maynard) and managed to hold on to the belt thanks to his grit, determination, heart and in-and-out style of striking mixed with his explosive takedown ability.

Still, even with all of those attributes and skills, Edgar lost his second straight title fight to Benson Henderson, leaving the New Jersey great and his camp to ponder what went wrong as they head for home, sans title strap.

Perhaps the question isn’t what went wrong for Edgar, but what went right for Henderson.

Both fights were close and could have gone either way; it’s not like Edgar got blown out of the water either time. If you compiled both fights and watched them as one 10-round affair, you’d still be left with a hard decision as to who won most of the rounds, not to mention the whole thing.

But at the end of the night, Benson Henderson is still the UFC lightweight champion, and he will next defend his belt against Nate Diaz.

So, what really went right for Henderson that he got the decision yet again?

Well, for starters, he didn’t let Edgar beat him to the punch (or kick) every time. In all the ways that count, Henderson was just as offensive as Edgar: both men lashed out at each other in equal measure with strikes.

But the kicks of Henderson were an ongoing theme from the first round, and they landed more often than not.

Granted, Edgar landed the biggest punch when he put Henderson down in the second round. It was a beautiful shot that landed flush and won the round for Edgar, but he wasn’t able to finish Henderson as he did Maynard in their rubber match.

Henderson survived and frame after frame landed hard kicks to Edgar’s legs and body while scoring occasional knees and punches to the head—one of which knocked out Edgar’s mouthpiece.

For every 10 kicks that Henderson launched, he seemed to land six to seven of them flush—usually on the legs of Edgar, but also to the body—and that kind of consistency is something judges remember.

Of course, fights like this are always hard to judge, given that Edgar seemed to give as good as he got. But time and again, when it looked like Edgar was starting to get the upper hand, Henderson would start chopping away with those kicks.

At the end of the night, it seemed to be a tale of reach; Henderson’s longer legs allowed him to connect first and from greater distance.

As cliché as it sounds, at UFC 150, Henderson just seemed to have a leg up on Edgar, and according to the judges, that was all that Henderson needed.

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