The card is getting very little attention but those particular events tend to produce the best bell-to-bell action. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this fight. The lightweight title rematch between Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar could be fight of the year. UFC President Dana White was originally against giving Edgar a rematch and called for him to move down to 145 lbs. The former champion publicly sited his willingness to give back to back rematches. Dana agreed and here we are today.
Benson Henderson (16-2) vs. Frankie Edgar (14-2-1): The story of this fight is size, talent, skill and will. Frankie Edgar convincingly defeated the more talented BJ Penn and knocked out the bigger and stronger Gray Maynard in a pair of championship rematches. The New Jersey native used his matchless skill and will to conquer two different opponents who each brought a different problem to the cage.
Benson Henderson is the triple threat of adversity for Frankie Edgar. The champion is skillful, talented, bigger, stronger and his faith in God gives him the will to win. Edgar’s nick name “The Answer” is the most appropriate moniker in mixed martial arts. He finds a way to win no matter how high the deck is stacked against him. He solved his three greatest combative problems individually but how does he solve all three at the same time?
Despite Frankie Edgar’s All-American wrestling pedigree, he will not hold Benson Henderson down for long. Securing takedowns for the sake of scoring points will have to be his objective. No one uses angles in the stand-up better than Edgar, and his punching accuracy is second to none. He will have to stick and move and keep Henderson guessing. However, that didn’t happen last time so how will he do it this time? Edgar can’t wait for the perfect opening to engage on the feet or on the ground. He has to take more calculated risks in order to cause damage. Edgar was competitive in the last fight but Henderson controlled where the fight took place for the majority of the bout.
The champion finds himself in a must win situation. Unlike Edgar, Henderson will not get an immediate rematch if he loses according to Dana White. Benson Henderson is the favorite and rightfully so. Victory eliminates Edgar from the title picture for the foreseeable future. Despite the odds, Frankie Edgar can win and it wouldn’t shock anyone if he did. He is undefeated in rematches because he game plans better than anyone and he comes into the Octagon better than he was before. Henderson will beat the Edgar that showed up in Japan nine times out of ten but the better version of “the answer” we see each time out will prove to be the deciding factor in the fight.
Prediction: Frankie Edgar via split decision
Quick Picks:
Donald Cerrone over Melvin Guillard by TKO plus, Melvin missed weight by 2.5 lbs
Ed Herman over Jake Shields (I have a feeling about this one)
Yushin Okami over Buddy Roberts via decision
Max Holloway over Justin Lawrence in a exciting stand up fight
Jared Hamman over Michael Kuiper via TKO in the 2nd Round
Dennis Bermudez over Tommy Hayden via decision
Erik Perez over Ken Stone by decision in which could produce a fun fight
Dustin Pague over Chico Camus by decision
Nik Lentz over Eiji Mitsuoka via decision, A lot of people sleep on Nik Lentz and I see good things in his 145 lbs debut
Ringside Logic 