New UFC Lightweight King Ben Henderson
UFC LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE BELT CHANGES HANDS!
San Francisco, CA– The UFC lightweight (155 lbs) title changed hands as now-ex champion Frankie Edgar (14-2-1) was beaten clearly on points after five-five minute rounds with Ben Henderson (16-2) in the UFC 144 main event emanating from Saitama, Japan. The scores echoed the flow of the fight with Henderson winning 49-46 twice & 48-47.
HENDERSON CHAMPION ONCE MORE
The taller Henderson was the World Extreme Cagefighting champion before the organization was bought up by the UFC and folded. Although Edgar took him down on occasion, Bendo controlled the action for the most part. Throwing hard kicks, some of which Edgar caught, while one strayed low, the majority of the kicks kept Edgar from using his game plan of striking. Edgar landed, just not enough as Henderson was clearly the fresher and more accomplished fighter both standing (using a good jab and at times Ben doubled up on) and with his kicks. The final round saw Henderson almost submit Edgar at the end of the fifth stanza with a guillotine choke that was preceded by a flying knee that connected and seemed to hurt Edgar. The striking superiority that Edgar was said to possess didn’t materialize.
“RAMPAGE” RETURNS TO JAPAN ONLY TO GET BEAT!
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (33-9) got in one of his “power bombs/slams” on eventual victor Ryan Bader (14-2), but it wasn’t enough as Bader survived and beat the former Pride Fighting Championships and UFC champion handily on points after three rounds with a shutout on the cards at 30-27 thrice! Jackson cae in six pounds over the 205 lb. contracted limit and had to give Bader $50,000 of his purse because of the extra weight. Bader jabbed and controlled matters except for the aforementioned power slam that looked like it could have broken Bader’s neck.
BADER HUNGRY LIKE A STARVED PIT BULL!
Undeterred by what used to be Jackson’s finishing move, Bader tried both a kimura and guillotine choke in the final round as Jackson seemed to grow older as the fight continued. In the end, Kyle Kingsbury, a UFC light heavyweight was right when he said last week on “Ring Talk MMA” radio that Bader, who went to the same college in Arizona with Kingsbury, that Ryan was simply “too hungry for Jackson.” This looks like the end of the road for Jackson, who really was never the same once he left Pride and Japan. Yeah, he did have a short run as UFC light heavyweight champ, but his head never seemed like it was screwed on right after the title win. Injuries plagued Jackson hinted at retirement if he lost. Simply put, at nearly 34 years of age, “Rampage” Jackson is simply done!
EX-K1 KICKBOXING CHAMP MARK HUNT PULLS OFF UPSET!
After a good run that saw Mark Hunt become the K-1 Kickboxing heavyweight champion, he was learning MMA on the job and because of this lost a lot of early fights. That being said, Mark Hunt (8-7) beat the favored Cheick Kongo (17-7-2) with a first round KO. The portly Samoan landed some right hands after he dropped Kongo and finished him on the ground at the 2:11 mark of round one. Referee Herb Dean stopped the contest when it became apparent that Kongo was defenseless.
FOR ALL THE UNDERCARD RESULTS GO TO UFC.COM
Pedro Fernandez