Benson Henderson takes UFC lightweight title in classic decision

The only reason Edgar fights at his natrual weight of 155 is because he didnt want to be a WEC champion, he wanted to be a UFC champion. Now that there is a featherweight division Edgar should move down, he has nothing left to prove at 155 and he could secure a great legacy by being one of three men in company history to win two titles in two different divisions. Assuming he can get by Aldo.

Terrific fight. I hope everyone understands how excellent Frankie Edgar`s performance was. It was just his misfortune he fought someone better than him. Benson Henderson was awesome. Edgar may have hit him more often and got a couple more quick takedowns but Henderson inflicted more damage and nearly finished the fight twice. His cardio is amazing too, he looked like he could have fought another five rounds.

Henderson-Pettis II will be off the charts. This fight must happen.

Ben Henderson is a great fighter. Pettis-Henderson II will be an awesome fight if and when it happens.

Henderson won the fight, it was really not very close in my view. i am not an Edgar fan as he gets hit too much with major damage, and I just don't think he has any submission skills once he is off his feet. BJ Penn was really not a submission fighter in his late years, he rarely even tried them, mostly defense. Grey Maynard is a tough animal, but he is a wrestler boxer just like Edgar. If those two fought 10 times, Edgar might win 6-4 due to speed and agility. When confronted with a true mixed martial artist athlete with creativity and blast cardio, Edgar really had no answers. There was no switching gears, just the movement and jabs which is great, but doesn't get the job done. He did little with takedowns because he is not a submission fighter, and just tries to control with good technique, but he is not one of the stronger guys so he couldn't do much against either maynard or henderson on the ground. He thinks he won the fight, while fighters lose perspective, it shows me that he believed the hype too much, and we wont see him as champ again. I think he is another loss or two from being the next rampage. It is amazing this dynamic sport has passed him by.These guys that fight like second nature Henderson, Pettis, Ceronne are all guys that will be dominant for the next few years. I am not convinced by Nate Diaz, but possible as he looked so sharp the last two even beating Cerrone which i think is his most impressive win. Edgar will be in the mix, but I just don't see him reigning again.

Edgar was just out sized by Henderson. Henderson looked like a monster compared to Edgar. Henderson looks like could easily walk around at 180 so Edgar was fighting a guy at least one weight class above him if not two.From a damage perspective it wasn't close as Henderson did a lot more damage. When you take into account Edgar being very busy and scoring take downs I don't think it's a land slide like some people make it seem. Yes, Edgar's face was a mess but that doesn't always tell the entire story. I think the decision is fine though and I have no problem with it.I am sick of a lot of MMA fights crying about the scoring in fights. too. Fighters are just fighting within the rules and if I have to see one more clown on sherdog cry lay and pray when a guy dominates a guy on the ground but doesn't finish him, I'm going to barf. As far as Shields goes, I have never been very impressed with him and his stand up is probably the worst I have ever seen. Regardless of that, he won. I'm sorry but two take downs regardless of how awesome they were do not win a fight. You actually have to throw some strikes and try to inflict some damage. I have no problem with that decision either even though the fight was not very good IMO. Boetsch...what can you say? The guy was honest with himself. His corner was honest with him that he was getting his #$%$ handed to him and he actually listened to his corner and executed. More fighters and corners need to be honest and lay it on the table when a fighter is getting worked like Boetsch was. He was going to try and win even if it meant getting knocked out or subbed. You have these fighters that just want to avoid getting finished and frankly, it's a cop out. Congratulations to Boetsch for showing some balls!

the real question is... Will Edgars drop weight and finally fight people his own size?

I thought it was a good close fight with Henderson winning 48-47. I gave Henderson the early rounds and Frankie the later rounds. It was very, very close and I honestly wouldn't have complained if Frankie had won 48-47. One thing we all know is that Frankie gets better the second time he fights a guy. So don't be surprised if he gets another shot that he takes the title back.

Lightweight is such a stacked division. There are so many guys and so many good fights. I can't wait to see what comes next.

UPDATE THE RANKINGS NOW!!!!! Bendo is now a P4P Fighter!!!

Go back and watch the first Cowboy vs. Bendo and then compare it to this fight. It's amazing how much Bendo has improved his game. If you watched WEC, you've seen Bendo grow up into a champion. Much love for Smooth - keep it going, man.

Did you guys see that new Japanese Octagon Girl? Holy Sashimi, what a Hottie!

Then the UFC had to screw it up by bringing that alien looking, translator in the octagon, she talked 1,000,000 words per second, and was a total joy-kill. Why couldn't they have that hot Japanese Octagon-Girl do the translations??? I don't care if she translates it right, she's hot!

And while they're at it, can someone just beat Joe Rogan over the head with piano?

I'm surprised that this decision seemed controversial to some. It was clear to me that Bendo won the fight. crystal clear.

People, Benson Henderson CLEARLY won the fight.
Even though I love Edgar as a fighter and I think he is a GREAT Role Model & Ambassador for our sport, The REAL stats tell the TRUTH of the fight.

Fight Metric Fight Totals:
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Strikes:
Henderson: Sig Strikes = 87(33%), Total Strikes = 100(36%)
Edgar: Sig Strikes = 68(36%), Total Strikes = 81(39%)

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Takedowns:
Henderson: 1 of 1 (100%)
Edgar: 5 of 12 (42%)

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Submission Attempts:
Henderson: 3
Edgar: 0

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Total Offensive Output:
Henderson: 52
Edgar: 41

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Effectiveness Scores [Striking(S), Grappling(G), Total(T)] :
Henderson: 330, 58, 388
Edgar: 251, 34, 285

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CLEAR Winner: Benson Henderson

The official fight metric stats are up. For those who said Frankie significantly out struck Bendo should look at those numbers. Frankie landed a lot less strikes than some on here are claiming. I thought the fight was fairly close. If you scored it for Frankie, thats fine, if you scored it for Bendo, thats fine, and if you even scored it a draw thats fine. I myself would prob give this 3-2 to Bendo.
Robbery is thrown around a little too much now. Yes, there are obviously robberies in mma, but this was not one of them.

Fight Metric Fight Totals:
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Strikes:
Henderson: Sig Strikes = 87(33%), Total Strikes = 100(36%)
Edgar: Sig Strikes = 68(36%), Total Strikes = 81(39%)

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Takedowns:
Henderson: 1 of 1 (100%)
Edgar: 5 of 12 (42%)

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Submission Attempts:
Henderson: 3
Edgar: 0

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Total Offensive Output:
Henderson: 52
Edgar: 41

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Effectiveness Scores [Striking(S), Grappling(G), Total(T)] :
Henderson: 330, 58, 388
Edgar: 251, 34, 285

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CLEAR Winner: Benson Henderson

As per usual the Jake Shields fight was the dud of the night? How does he keep getting fights in the UFC??

Frankie is one tough dude; I was actually rooting for him, but the better guy won. Hat’s off to both fighters, they came and delivered. Japan was lucky to get this fight.

What a night foe the WEC lightweights. I thought Benson was gonna call out Pettis after the fight. Wonder who is up next.

For all the people who think Edgar won the fight, I'll make a deal with you,: You get to hit me in the face with a pillow 10 times and I get to hit your face with a brick once

To all the people who think Edgar won this fight: Playing tag/patty cake will not win you fights.

Henderson didn't land as many as Edgar, but his shots definitely did a lot more damage. If you need evidence, look at Edgar's eyes and nose as well as all the blood on his face and then look at Henderson.

During the first 4 rounds at no time was Henderson in any type of danger or suffer any damage, the only damage he suffered was the flash knock down late in the 5th round and he recovered in 3 seconds, give the 5th to Edgar.

In the 1st round Edgar walked off with a Nasty busted eye, 2nd round he walked off with a broken nose ans was saved by the bell, 3rd round he was still dazed and danced around the whole round avoiding Henderson, 4th round he was placed in a deep guillotine attempt and by the 5th round his eye looked like a tennis ball, blood was poring all over his face and he couldn't even breathe because his nose was either broken or severely swollen..

Add it up kids, rounds 2, 3 and 4 to Henderson, 5th to Edgar, round 1 was a toss up but I gave it to henderson b/c he did the most significant damage, = 49 -46 for Henderson.