Edgar vs. Henderson

This is the official discussion thread for Edgar vs. Henderson. Let's see what you've got.

Interesting statements @zarog and @fglop.

I had 1, 3 and 5 for Edgar but they were all very close.

I had 2 and 4 for Benson but they were dominant.

This is why I advocate for the decimal system, because then the fight would've been called much clearer. It would've been scored 48.5-48 for Benson, which could be the clearest score you could assess to this fight.

@Anik Like I said, upon a second look the fight was much closer than I originally thought. Edgar did actually counter very well in many instances, but the whole "HE CAUGHT THE KICK!" by Joe and Goldie was really over played. He was catching the kicks, but I didn't really think he was doing much with it afterwards, and he wasn't catching the kicks until after the damage had been done. For instance, I believe it was the second or third round, can't remember for sure, when Edgar caught the kick and then proceeded to eat 5 punches to the face before throwing a leg-kick that didn't really do anything and then letting go of Ben's leg. During that entire exchange all Joe and Goldie talked about was the fact that Edgar caught the kick. Not that he was getting punched in the face and all the shots were landing clean. I just think that you pretty much have to watch the fight without sound because it wasn't until the upkick that Joe even mentioned what Ben was doing well. Then the entire third round Joe talked about how much heart Frankie has and pretended like the fight wasn't still happening. Still, a close fight, but I really think Henderson won it, albeit not as clearly as I originally thought.

Honestly though, **** UFC and Dana if Frankie doesn't get an immediate rematch. He had to do it back-to-back. 

Yeah, Frankie does deserve it since it was close and he had to do so many rematches himself.

An immediate rematch is definitely in the books. I would prefer to see Ben fight one more time before Frankie gets another shot though. Edgar is going to have a pretty long medical suspension, and when you factor in the camps of the fighters, that would make Ben inactive for quite a while. I like it when the champs fight three or four times a year.

Everyone is talking about the damage he did to Frankie...GRAY MAYNARD beat the **** out of Frankie way worse then Henderson. And Frankie is fine, you know why...he takes damage because he actually gets in there and lands combo's and takedowns, although he may not KO you clean he lands punches and can take some shots. Which is what he did vs Henderson...he outstruck him and out-grappled him. Although Ben got up quick after the TD's...they still count when Frankie is the much smaller guy and it was mostly a stand-up battle.

Frankie Lost, Ben won, Period.
I and a lot of other people including the most important the judges thought Ben won.
But there is also a lot of people who feel Frankie won, but w/e
Benson had the knockdown, landed much harder cleaner punches, wound up on top in at least 2/3 of the scrambles (Not TD). Frankie did win the takedowns but it was his inability to keep Benson down which messed him up. 
It doesnt matter arguing about it, Henderson won, period, nothing you can do to change that
however, Frankie does deserve an immediate rematch due to it happening to him a lot. 
Personally, i would rather see frankie move down a weight class or two

Like I said before, there's no point in arguing. A rematch's gotta happen, but Benson's won the first battle.

@anik +1

I can't believe there's even a debate on who won this fight..  I dunno why more people don't realise that the vast majority of damage is caused by effective striking which is a scoring criteria.  In this fight I'd say all the damage was caused by effective striking.  Obviously the word 'damage' doesn't show up in the scoring criteria, but to think that damage doesn't matter in a combat sport like MMA is just dumb.

Benson looked absolutely flawless by the end of that fight which is just a testament to how ineffective Frankie's striking really was last night.  Benson came the closest to finishing the fight by knockout, submission, and even a doctor stoppage.  I just don't see how Edgar possibly could've won even under a flawed scoring system and stupid judges.

*I don't believe a rematch is warranted either.  Giving a rematch to the greatest lightweight of all time after a close fight and giving a rematch to your arch nemesis after they fought to a draw isn't quite the same as this.  I think the timing is perfect for Bendo vs Pettis 2.

* Edited at 02.26.2012, 3:07 PM ET *

When I watched the fight initially I had it 48-47 Edgar. Upon re-watching it I have it 48-47 Henderson.

* Edited at 02.26.2012, 3:03 PM ET *

No one is "arguing" about the results.  Everyone agrees it was a close fight and probably could have gone either way.  That's not an argument.  Also, why does Edgar NOT deserve a title shot, but Maynard did?  A fight that close deserves a rematch, and in almost any other situation, that would happen.  Why is it any different here?

Wow RWLawman, you're pretty irrational and maybe a little biased in that last post.  I mean really you're saying "Why should a draw deserve a rematch while a fight this close doesn't?"  I just find that strange..

Fact is the only people saying Frankie should have won are Frankie fans and people who picked him to win this fight.  Haven't seen a single person who picked Henderson saying Frankie should have won.  The argument is that Frankie landed a bunch of shots and takedowns even though the takedowns were completely meaningless in how the fight played out and the striking did nothing more than annoy Bendo.

Damage doesn't count, but it's still showing how effective a fighter is being with his striking.  The amount of shots Frankie landed, he should have at least given Bendo a scratch or a bump, anything.  Bendo came the closest to finishing the fight in every way possible.

I think in a rematch Frankie just takes more punishment from the much bigger fighter like he did in both his fights against Gray Maynard despite showing a lot of heart and fighting through it.  Just tired of seeing Frankie get mangled by these bigger guys.  Even more tired of instant title rematches.

Irrational and biased?  If that's the case, then so are the Henderson fans.  I'm being as far as I can be, and have already said the fight could go either way -- how is THAT biased?  When most people are scoring this fight within a point of each other, that shows it was a closely contested battle.  Irrational?  What part of what I said was irrational? 

I had Henderson 48-47, it was a damn close fight.

@Swick - How do you figure Frankie outstruck him? Henderson outlanded him in every round except the 1st in which they both were even. Fightmetric.

Benson won, hands down. Perfect timing for Henderson vs Pettis 2. Benson has the best cardio in 155 imo. He excels in the deep rounds, and keeps a fats pace the whole fight. Edgar is a sissy point fighter.

I think Henderson won, as much as it pains me to admit, but Frankie had to settle with two rematches in his reign, so if Dana wants to give him a rematch, I wont argue at all. I think when looking back, it was idealistic to hope that Frankies small size wouldnt play as big a factor as it did. Bright side is, I could see Frankie dominating featherweight if not for Jose Aldo. Maybe when Aldo gets a bit bigger, Frankie will find a new home, although I still think hes the number 2 lightweight.

i think Henderson won too, 48-47, although if they gave it to Edgar i wouldn't think it was too absurd either... very close fight, i'm always amazed how hard it is to win decisively against Edgar.

if Frankie goes down to FW and Aldo up to LW, i see they could pretty much end up switching division belts.. . although Aldo would have a way more hard to way to the top at LW, than Edgar at FW

i LOVE the UFC so much emotion by fans haha probably my favourite event of the year ( ive said that 3 times now) SMOOTH was too strong frankie fought well but too small you can say WHAT ABOUT GREY?? i think GREY is one dimensional so his size is used one or too ways against FRANKIE first round leg catch by FRANKIE almost ended his life with what would of been one of the most devestating head kicks ive seen in a long time GREAT card

@Russello 110% AGREED. Frankie had to do two rematches, if Dana doesn't give him a rematch for this fight, he's a facist.