Newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson showed in his fourth UFC bout that he has something that long-time champ B.J. Penn and top UFC contender Gray Maynard never had: the ability to clearly dominate and defeat Frankie Edgar.
Henderson dominated Edgar for five full rounds last night at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. But one other UFC lightweight also performed very impressively last night: Henderson's old rival from the WEC, Anthony Pettis. Pettis KO'd Joe Lauzon with a dramatic head kick in less than 2 minutes.
Pettis beat Henderson with a dramatic fifth round running, leaping off the fence kick to the head back at WEC 53 in December 2010. The then-WEC champ Pettis was promised an immediate title shot but he lost his chance when then-champ Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw on New Year's Day 2011 at UFC 125.
Pettis went on to lose a tough decision to Clay Guida in his eventual UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in June of last year. He hasn't lost since, but a single loss in the UFC's lightweight division has the effect of sending a fighter to the back of the line. Henderson, by contrast, has reeled off four straight wins since moving up to the UFC. He's beaten Mark Bocek, Jim Miller, Clay Guida and now Frankie Edgar.
Jim Miller will be facing Nate Diaz in the headliner of UFC on Fox 3 on May 5th. That bout had been expected to be a #1 contender's bout, but it looks like the winner of Miller-Diaz will have to get in line behind Anthony "Showtime" Pettis.
SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson
- UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Brent Brookhouse
- UFC 144 Results: Dana White Says Anthony Pettis Will 'Likely' Get Next UFC Lightweight Title Shot - Bloody Elbow
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC Japan Video: Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords - Bloody Elbow
- Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - Episode 139: UFC 144 Results Review
- UFC 144 Results: Ryan Bader Dominates Rampage Jackson To Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Mark Hunt Knocks Out Cheick Kongo In The First Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Jake Shields Wins Hard Fought Decision Over Yoshihiro Akiyama - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Upsets Yushin Okami In The Third Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC 144 Results: Hatsu Hioki Defeats Bart Palaszewski By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Anthony Pettis Knocks Out Joe Lauzon In The First Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Takanori Gomi Stops Eiji Mitsuoka In The Second - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Vaughan Lee Submits Kid Yamamoto With An Armbar - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Riki Fukuda Dominates Steve Cantwell To Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Chris Cariaso Defeats Takeya Mizugaki By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Issei Tamura Knocks Out Tiequan Zhang - Matthew Roth