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Cagewriter - UFC

Cagewriter

Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:11 pm EST

Ace-Hendo leaves fans thirsting for more

By Steve Cofield

The UFC is trying to avoid the mistakes that boxing has made over the last 20 years. Elite boxers too often avoided one another during their prime years. Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson may be moving toward the back end of their careers but they are definitely still amongst the elite. The disappointing part of this night was the fact that neither is still a world champ which would've forced them to fight for five rounds. Henderson won a split decision from Franklin in this three-rounder but no one could really walk away with bragging rights.

It was a tough fight to score and the judges' scorecards turned out a wide range. Two judges gave the fight to Henderson 29-28 and the other judge gave it 30-27 to Franklin.

Each round featured stints where both fighters played to their strengths. Henderson turned in some good ground work in the first and second rounds. He scored takedowns and nullified Franklin's more precise stand-up game. Henderson didn't do a ton of damage on the ground but he landed enough hammerfists and elbows to bruise up Franklin's face. He opened up a small cut in the middle of Franklin's forehead. Franklin also suffered a vicious cut by his hairline via a Hendo unintentional headbutt. 

Franklin had his moments in each round with more accurate striking and a bevy of body kicks. He looked like the fresher fighter down the stretch before he was nailed in the eye as Henderson pawed with a left hand jab. The fight was stopped for ovet two minutes with just

The win gets Henderson a slot on the UFC reality show "The Ultimate Fighter 9: U.S. versus U.K." Henderson will coach the American team and then face British coach Michael Bisping later this summer. The winner of that fight is expected to face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Photo via CombatLifestyle

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75 Comments

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  1. Steven W
    1. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    hendo is bad for the ufc, i'm convinced. his wrestling is borrrring and his standup gets people head butted repeatedly and poked in the eye.
  2. joe C
    2. Posted by joe C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    I thought hendo fought a dirty and effective fight that head butt took a lot out of franklin and that eye poke was well placed on the slow mo you can see hendo kept his fingers straight out looking to get a finger in there,
    On the ground hendo did a good job in the first two rounds but didn't land as much as franklin overall those 2 rounds. Just add up what lands and you will see the advantage. UFC judges love the take down and give you the round almost just from take downs. If this were 5 rounds then hendo would of been in big trouble.
  3. Carl
    3. Posted by Carl Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:04 pm EDT

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    I see this fight as a positive for Rich Franklin. Many people will view this fight and believe he won. He no longer has tu do the show that he stated that he was not excited for. Also, he no longer has to cut weight, fight Michael Bisbing, and focus on the light heavyweight division. Expect Rich Franklin to fight a high caliber light heavyweight next like Rampage Jackson or even a Chuck Liddell.
  4. KJ
    4. Posted by KJ Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:26 pm EDT

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    head butt ruined it
  5. Norman W
    5. Posted by Norman W Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:41 pm EDT

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    Was it necessary to make the winner team usa coach? neither have any business at MW, well maybe Hendo gets another crack at Spider. but playing gatekeeper for bisping. it didn't matter which of the two won, hendo did of course, but either would wipe the floor with bisping. all he has is youth an a cockney accent hehe. the hype around being past champs and stuff is boring. did it matter? everyone wants dream matches and this fight still delivered. if, god forbid, they made a couture vs coleman match, then yes, that would be an embarassment and a fight too late.
  6. LL
    6. Posted by LL Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:59 pm EDT

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    Franklin can not hang with the 205 guys. Henderson should stay at 185 which is more his weight anyway. Glad he won. After the beatings Franklin took from Silva (who is so overrated) he should just go back to teaching....
  7. Steven W
    7. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    i agree....two more rounds would've meant the end for hendo, even though i did pick him to win, i'm losing my taste for him as a fighter.
  8. Treydubb
    8. Posted by Treydubb Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:43 pm EDT

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    mmaweekly is saying rampage is fighting jardine at the card in ohio. WHy would dana white waste rampages time. he deserves a shot at his title. And hendo was trying to grab the punch Joe C
  9. Monster
    9. Posted by Monster Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

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    Man I thought Ace would do better, but The Spider must have knocked all the aggression out of him. And I agree Hendo is boring but he's still game except for the dirty techniques. The Count may be better suited to fight him, but I don't think they are ready for the web slinger. Shogun sucks! He drained all his good talents over at Pride, plus old man looks friggin huge (Coleman) but it's over the dream is gone. Hopefully the Andre Berto vs. Luis Callazo fight tonight is good. Anything with physically pounding the crap out of your opponent I'm there. Later Guys!
  10. Steven W
    10. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    yeah they advertised for that card during this one..........rampage vs jardine headlining sounded like
  11. metall1cfan
    11. Posted by metall1cfan Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:16 pm EDT

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    Lenny C, saying Anderson Silva is overrated is the dumbest thing you've probably ever said. How can this man be overrated? All he has done is win everyone Dana White has put in front of him. He's the best striker there is in the game right now. Silva needs to be challenged by better competition I'll admit that. BUT WHO WOULD THAT BE???
  12. joe C
    12. Posted by joe C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    8. Posted by Treydubb
    "And hendo was trying to grab the punch Joe C"
    You don't grab a punch, Never heard that one before. You block, deflect punches.
    Good way to break your fingers.
    When hendo threw that his fingers were straight out.
  13. Steven W
    13. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    hendo was trying to grab the eye.......is what he meant to say
    he was also trying to headbutt his hairline
  14. Ron M
    14. Posted by Ron M Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:12 pm EDT

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    Missed the fights ...had to work. I was wrong....I picked Franklin to win but sounds like it was a very close fight. both fighters have some decisions to make. Neither one of them can beat silva at 185 and obviously neither one of them is a top contender at 205....so what do you do??
  15. Steven W
    15. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    Ron can't there just be a 2nd place??? haha
    and TREY you're an idiot and easy to piss off. i'm only kidding and making fun of the situation all together.....but now that you mention it, enlighten me and tell me exactly what he was trying to do by extending his arm and fingers out straight in front of him in a jabbing fashion? was he going for a throat chop and ended up a little high?
  16. delicious
    16. Posted by delicious Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:29 pm EDT

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    He wat the heck is Steve Cofield and Yahoo doing posting this fight and results. THE FIGHT HASNT AIRED IN THE US YET!!!!!!!!! YOU BLEW FOR A LOT OF FANS AND KILLED A LOT OF PAY PER VIEW SUBSCRIPTIONS.
    THE UFC SHOULD BE VERY ANGRY.
  17. Ad k
    17. Posted by Ad k Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

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    i dont understand why did Shogun did not knocked Coleman out, he had so many channces but he did not. i am thinking that match was kind of fixed. coleman was done in the 1st round. doing noting and hard to breath. and shogun was just wasting time.
    Hendo did a very smart fight. if you watch Hendo previous fight you will notice, he does not go for quick KO's he just want to win, no matter what it takes. Silva almost lost to Hendo, and if Hendo fights Silva again, Silva will lose via decesion.
    also Marcus Davis sucks balls. his fight sucked big time.
  18. Ad k
    18. Posted by Ad k Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

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    delicious, i am from USA and i watched this fight on PPV at 3Pm EST LIVE.
  19. Alexander L
    19. Posted by Alexander L Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:19 pm EDT

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    hoooo! UFC special! Treydubb vs. Steven W !! hahahahahahahahaha
  20. Treydubb
    20. Posted by Treydubb Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:43 pm EDT

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    i dont have too many punches thrown at my head, but i could see myself putting my hand out trying to block it. would you like him to do that with a closed fist so they give each other a fist pound. and i mean if someone is throwing a punch at me and im also trying to get out of the way, my aim might be a little off something like that can happen. im pretty sure in the history of mma that has never happened. or maybe it has, seems like it could. you tell me STEVEN if i am correct rogan and goldberg both said it was accidental and that he was trying to block franklins straight right. i dont know seems logical. i guess you would have to ask hendo though
  21. mjolnir
    21. Posted by mjolnir Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:04 pm EDT

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    I have to agree with Lenny C Anderson Silva is overrated. Just step back for a minute and look at this again. He has fought who? Jumping up to 205 for Sandman Irving was just like when Franklin jumped up to 205 to fight Shamrock. A match built to build his versitility to WOW the 98 percent of the jump on the bandwagon fan. Rich Franklin has the look needed to represent the UFC from the standpoint of breaking the stereo type dumb fighter , but otherwise look at his record. Who has he faught .... really? As far as Anderson Silva ... Yes he has super striking ablility. It is great watching him. His best and most impressive fight was Chris Leban. That was impressive. But Travis Lutter ... Bumb. Nate Marquardt? Dan Henderson? The 185 pound weight class in the UFC is loaded with mediocrity. The UFC loves to talk about this class and that class being full of talent. The 185 class is Waaayyy over played. Who should Silva fight? Well .... if Dana White would stop throwing fits and black balling guys .... I would start with Matt Lindlin. Also the WEC is supposed to merge the 185 and 205 classes into the UFC. How about Chael Sonnen? If you think these are not good candiadates look back at who Siva has faught and compare them to these 2. These 2 could have beaten any of them. If Silva is that spectacular and he wants to jump weight classes have him fight Rashad Evans.
  22. joe C
    22. Posted by joe C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    Treydubb , hendo is not going to block a punch with his fingers straight out and at the time the only thing there was his face not his fist. so good try
    all I know is if I am allowed to headbutt and poke my opponent in the eye and not be penalized for it, then I would say we are going to have a lot more hendos out there.
  23. surfer
    23. Posted by surfer Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:16 pm EDT

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    Can't believe the fight aired mid day. First fight I can remember that didn't start at 7pacific time. A note to UFC owners......air the fight the next week on Spike or something so the people that couldn't afford it can see the fight too. At least boxing does that. I noticed they are trying to sell the fights long after they transpire.....just remember.....the USA is in the position it's in because of simple GREED. What comes around goes around. Let the poor folks view the fights too, even if it's a week later.
  24. joe C
    24. Posted by joe C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    pb anderson silva is not overrated he just has no competition. A fight with rashad will be ok but look at the first two rounds against forrest and imagine that being the spider. Yikes lights out KO 1st round, then you would say that dont mean nothing since rashad wasn't anything special.
    Theres always somebody who thinks there some fighter, etc who is overrated or even underrated.
    All we know is who is the champ.
  25. Sinister
    25. Posted by Sinister Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:25 pm EDT

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    PB and all others who say Silva is overratted are morons! Who has he fought? Leben when he was at the top of his game. Franklin when he was unstopable, Hendo, Marquart at the top of his game and he didnt eek out any of them he completely destroyed all of them. And to say James Irvin was a walk he was supose to have a chin. You dont think he would walk through 205 Chuck Forrest Rampage no compatition the only one who has a chance is Machida Morons!!!

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