The UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson held on to his belt with a dominating performance over Nate Diaz at the Key Arena in Seattle on Saturday night. Henderson took the five-round bout 50-43, 50-45, 50-45. Henderson landed 133 significant strikes throughout the bout.

Henderson set the tone early when he got a takedown and stood over Diaz before landing shots. Throughout the round, Henderson peppered Diaz with leg kicks. It caused damage early and throughout the bout.

Diaz showed signs of life in the third round with leg lock and heel hook submission attempts. Both  times Henderson was able to get out. Late in the round, he dropped Diaz, who continued to try for leg submissions.

At the end of the fourth round, Henderson jumped around and showed how fresh he was while Diaz had to get his eyes checked by the fight doctor. Henderson had a big takedown in the fifth, and continued to control Diaz throughout the round.

When the fight was over, Henderson reportedly walked over towards the media on press row and shouted to them:

"I don't talk, it's in here. Do you guys get it?"

This was Henderson's second title defense. He is undefeated since joining the UFC and has a record of 17-2. His last two bouts were razor-close decisions, but with this fight, Henderson has a signature performance to show he is deserving of the UFC's shiny, gold belt.

Going into this fight, Diaz had three wins at lightweight. Two were by submission, but his submission skills didn't work on Henderson. Diaz falls to an overall record of 16-8.

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Young fighters made some noise on UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle on Saturday night. Rory MacDonald, Mike Brown and Alexander Gustaffson all scored big wins.

The torch was passed among welterweights as B.J. Penn was beat down for three rounds by the bigger, faster and younger Rory MacDonald, who took the decision 30-26, 30-26, 30-27.

Penn, a legend in MMA whose first fight was at UFC 31 in 2001, had no answers for 23-year-old MacDonald. Penn was wobbled by a left late in the first round. He survived just to take such a beating in the second round that the fight doctor came in between the second and third to check and see if Penn could continue.

In the third round, MacDonald continued to land strikes, but added taunting to his arsenal. He dropped his hands and made faces at Penn, which the crowd in Seattle didn't appreciate. After the bout, MacDonald said he Penn was his hero, but he had to treat him like every opponent.

"Like I said to BJ after the fight, he was the one guy I really really looked up to growing up. He's a hero to me," MacDonald said to UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

MacDonald also asked to fight Carlos Condit, the one fighter who has beaten MacDonald in his 15-fight career.

Yves Edwards topped off the preliminary card of the UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle on Saturday night with a bang. He gave Jeremy Stephens his third straight loss -- and first loss by knockout -- with a perfectly placed right hook. Edwards followed with elbows on the ground, and it didn't take long. Edwards won by knockout at 1:55 in the first.

Raphael Assuncao and Ramsey Nijem both walked away with decision wins. Nijem took a bloody decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous decision from Joe Procter, while Assuncao won 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 over Mike Easton.

It's been a rough run of bad luck for UFC president Dana White. (Getty)

Just over 24 hours from the start of UFC on Fox 5, the card had one more change due to an accident that puts some stock in the theory the UFC is cursed in 2012.

Lightweight Tim Means was supposed to face Abel Trujilo in the preliminary fights that will air on FX on Saturday. While cutting weight for Friday's weigh-in, Means slipped and fell in the sauna. UFC president Dana White tweeted Means knocked himself out.

The UFC curse strikes again. Tim Means slips in sauna and KO's himself so now Marcus LeVesseur vs Abel Trujillo

— Dana White (@danawhite) December 7, 2012

LeVesseur had been scheduled to fight Michael Chiesa, but he scratched late last week due to illness. Now, he's back on the card and preparing for the next day for his opponent. Most fighters prepare for an opponent for at least six weeks.

The UFC has had a run of injuries in 2012 that bordered on unbelievable. Champions Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo and Georges St-Pierre all took extended breaks from fighting because of injury. Dan Henderson's knee injury before his scheduled UFC 151 bout with light heavyweight champ Jon Jones led to the cancellation of the Labor Day weekend event. In May, the all-heavyweight main card of UFC 146 had to be reworked several times because of injury.

And now, even as the end of 2012 nears, Forrest Griffin and Chris Weidman both had to pull out of the year-end UFC 155 event. This is all topped off by a fighter slipping and falling the day before an event. 2013 can't come quickly enough for the UFC.

(Getty)The UFC's fifth appearance on Fox goes down on Saturday night, with one of the more stacked cards to air on the network since. What will come from the card? Read on.

Who will walk away with the lightweight belt? The biggest question of the evening goes to the main event. Benson Henderson will have the chance to show off his skills against someone other than Frankie Edgar. Diaz thinks he can't win a judges' decision, so will he be able to stop Henderson, who hasn't loss by a stoppage since 2007? Or will Henderson hold onto the championship?

Is this B.J. Penn's last stand? Penn is a legend in the UFC. His first fight was was in 2001 at UFC 31. He even dabbled with retirement until young buck Rory MacDonald called him out. Will Penn be able to stop the 13-1 MacDonald, or will the young fighter's star continue to rise?

(Getty)

Though the UFC had focused on making a superfight between welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, and Johny Hendricks was supposed to be the next welterweight contender, another fighter will get a shot at GSP before Silva or Hendricks. At the UFC on Fox 5 press conference, UFC president Dana White said Nick Diaz will get the next shot at St-Pierre.

Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Carlos Condit. He is also suspended because the Nevada Athletic Commission found marijuana metabolites during his drug test. Still, he's seen as the ideal candidate over Hendricks, who won his last five fights. Two of his last three wins were knockouts in under a minute.

Hendricks immediately took to Twitter after he heard the news:

I don't really know what to say but please @danawhite give me a shot @georgesstpierre if u want a fight I will give him anything he can take

— Johny Hendricks (@JohnyHendricks) December 6, 2012

He has a point. Hendricks has the credentials for the title shot, and White said Hendricks was the no. 1 contender after he knocked out Martin Kampmann at UFC 154.

"He looked damn good tonight," White said. "It was a replica of the Jon Fitch fight. He even landed it in the same spot (as the Jon Fitch fight). It was impressive, so I would say yes, he is (the No. 1 contender)."

Diaz jumping to the front of the line is yet another reminder that the UFC is a business first. It's their job to sell pay-per-views and attract viewers to fights on Fox, FX and Fuel. The fighter who has earned his way to the top isn't always the best one to attract viewers.

(Tracy Lee)It's official: Ronda Rousey is the UFC's first female champion. The one-time Strikeforce bantamweight champion is the first female champ in the UFC, and received her belt on Thursday to prove it.

Rousey also has her first opponent. Rousey will fight Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in Anaheim.

"It means a lot," said Rousey at the UFC on Fox 5 press conference. "I feel like we have a lot to prove at this event and no one's going to be disappointed. The women are here to stay and we're gonna prove it."

[Also: Rising UFC star Rory MacDonald can only go so far]

The UFC will break two barriers with this fight. Not only will it be the first time two women fight for the UFC, but it's also the first time an openly gay fighter will take to the Octagon. Carmouche is a lesbian who served under Marines "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which is no longer in place. She has been out for much of her MMA career.

It's a career with a record of 7-2. Her losses are to former Strikeforce bantamweight champions Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. Rousey is undefeated, with all six wins coming in the first round.

(Getty)When Matt Brown gets into the octagon with Mike Swick at UFC on Fox 5 on Saturday, he'll be facing a fighter he was a fan of. Brown told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani that after Swick appeared on first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," Brown sent him a message via the once-popular social network MySpace.

"He was the first fighter I really looked up to on 'The Ultimate Fighter 1.' I wrote him a message on MySpace, and I was real pissed when he never replied to my message. Was like, 'he's an [expletive.]"

He smiled at the idea that this slight serves as an incentive for him to win.

"That's my whole motivation for this camp. I didn't get a reply on My Space."

Brown appeared on the seventh season of "The Ultimate Fighter." He has put together an 8-5 record in the UFC since appearing on the reality show, and is riding a three-fight winning streak. Will Brown continue the streak this Saturday? Speak up in the comments, Twitter or on Facebook. (But not MySpace.)