Henderson edges Edgar in decision to become lightweight champion

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by Michael David Smith | source: mmafighting.com

The UFC has a new lightweight champion. Ben Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 144, taking the lightweight belt.

It was a tremendous performance by Henderson, who came in with a great game plan heavy on kicks to the body and executed that game plan well. Henderson showed he was bigger and stronger than Edgar and showed that he had more than enough gas to last 25 minutes with the champion.

Two judges scored it 49-46 and one scored it 48-47. And now the UFC belt is around Henderson's waist.

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Ben "Smooth" Henderson Vs. Frankie "The Answer" Edgar

Fight was scheduled for 5 rounds (5x5x5x5x5) - Fight was for the Lightweight Title

Name	Ben Henderson
Height	5′ 9″ (175.26 cm)
Weight	170 (77.11 kg)
Record	14-2-0
Team	The Lab

Name	Frankie Edgar	Frankie Edgar" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&s=27151293-1D09-6BFC-E5C336B23677FD4B.jpg" />
Height	5′ 6″ (167.64 cm)
Weight	155 (70.31 kg)
Record	14-1-1
Team

Benson Henderson def. Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46)

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tags: Benson Henderson Frankie Edgar (detail) UFC 144

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2/26/12 8:47 PM by mikethecricket

Pretty obvious Edgar got the crap kicked out of him. Also really seemed to show that his strikes can score points but do little damage. Of course he'd KO me pretty quick, though.

2/26/12 3:07 PM by grimsgrindgg

....Edgar got his ass beat....

2/26/12 10:53 AM by PINNN

i value the takedowns that's why i gave it to frankie....thought he scrambled better too....but it was a extremely close fightben looked huge

2/26/12 10:46 AM by PINNN

I LOVE HOW BRAVE A PERSON BECOMES ON THE INTERNETI LOVE HOW BRAVE A PERSON BECOMES ON THE INTERNETI LOVE HOW BRAVE A PERSON BECOMES ON THE INTERNETI LOVE HOW BRAVE A PERSON BECOMES ON THE INTERNET

2/26/12 4:23 AM by tonytr

Bendo won fair and square. Dana White has a hard-on for Frankie, just said he thought Edgar won the fight. Just look at the fight stats, he got outstruck and he did nothing with the takedowns. Add in Bendo's aggression, more significant blows/moments, and the obvious fact that he did a helluva lot more damage, and I don't think the controversy is warranted. Frankie's had enough chances, and frankly yet another immediate lightweight title rematch would be tiresome. Bendo vs. Pettis is the most exciting option, and waiting for Diaz/Miller would take too long.

2/26/12 4:12 AM by fightharder

I think you are absolutely right. Though i personally thought Frankie landed more shots.Even if he did (which does not seem to be the case according to fight metrics) Bendo still deserved the win. He did way more damage,hence more effective striking/kicking,his octagon control was better (Frankie always suffers a little in this regard because of his style but nonetheless), and he was more impressive in the significant moments when the fight went to the ground (his defense again Frankies grappling was pretty awesome).I just thought he was to strong for Frankie. Frankie's striking did not seem to do enough damage either. So either he was not able to throw with abandonment the way he did in his previous fights or Bendo took enough out of him to dull his punching power.What i don't understand is that is corner was not more realistic. The should have told him in the 4th that he was losing the fight and he needed to take more risks. The should have told him in the 5th that he needed to go for the KO. I can understand why Frankie thought the fight might have been close because of his take-downs and his striking (he always scores a lot of points) but his corner should have know better.Anyways we have a great new champ and it is kind of poetic justice that Pettis is going to fight for the title against Bendo next (if they pass up on this opportunity they are absolutely crazy...and lets face it lost their sense of fairness as well).Bendo performance was pretty amazing by the way.He did a lot of effective damage and pretty much walk through most that Edgar threw at him. He also stayed fairly composed as well. I personally think he will stay lightweight champ for a longer time then Frankie did because he has the one thing Frankie cannot train for,size (besides the complete arsenal of fighting skills of cource ).I would love Frankie to try featherweight because i do think he has a better chance claiming that title (if he can cut the weight in a ''pleasant'' manner,meaning it will not discomfort him to much).

2/26/12 3:57 AM by crumbs

awesome fight, you have to be out of your mind if you dont have each fighter winning atleast one round. scoring 5-0 for either of them is ridiculous.i thought Henderson won 3-2

2/26/12 3:57 AM by daba

Round 1 Edgar gets eye smashed. Round 2 Edgar gets nose smashed. They landed about the same number of strikes but Benson's strikes were far more powerful and Benson was the aggressor. Frankie's takedowns were pointless and actually hurt him more than helped. Benson got him in a guillotine off one and the other led to the upkick that was arguably the biggest strike of the night. I gave Edgar round 5 but other than that he was getting bullied all night and getting tagged with big shots.

2/26/12 3:51 AM by tamothyy

I had Bendo winning AT LEAST 3 of the rounds. Congrats to the new champ!

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