UFC 150 Recap: Benson Henderson retains his belt in Denver, Colorado

UFC 150 took place tonight live from Denver, Colorado, and Lightweight champion Benson Henderson has retained his championship belt in a somewhat controversial split decision over former champ Frankie Edgar. The fight saw Henderson possess an advantage in significant strikes, outlanding Edgar 89 to 62. However, Edgar held a huge advantage in the area of control, with 3 minutes, 15 seconds to a mere 10 seconds by Henderson. Edgar rocked Henderson early in the fight, while the champion landed many leg kicks. Henderson went for a Guillotine while Edgar had a few choke attempts of his own to no avail. The fight was close, closer than their first battle, and could have possibly gone either way.

In other main card action, Donald Cerrone destroyed Melvin Guillard with a head kick followed by a vicious punch in the first round. Cerrone was rocked early on by Guillard’s impressive speed and power. He weathered his former teammate’s Muay Thai flurry to come back with an impressive victory. Jake Shields outclassed Ed Herman at Middleweight, showing excellent grappling to get back on the winning track. Yushin Okami scored a stoppage by TKO over Buddy Roberts after repeatedly taking Roberts’’ back and scoring ground-and-pound.  Max Holloway beat Justin Lawrence with a second-round TKO in a battle of strikers.

So, who do you think won the main event? It was a very close championship bout. In any case, Ben Henderson will next defend his Lightweight championship against popular challenger Nate Diaz. The Lightweight division in the UFC is quickly defining itself as the most talent-laden division in all of MMA. Will Frankie Edgar now move down to Featherweight to face dominant champion Jose Aldo?  

UFC 150 Full Results:

Main Card: 

-Benson Henderson def. Frankie Edgar via split decision

–Donald Cerrone def. Melvin Guillard by R1 KO (Kick and Punch)

–Jake Shields def. Ed Herman by Unanimous Decision

–Yushin Okami def. Buddy Roberts by R2 TKO (Strikes)

-Max Holloway def. Justin Lawrence by R2 TKO (Punch)

Preliminary Card:

-Dennis Bermudez def. Tommy Hayden by R1 Submission (Guillotine Choke)

-Michael Kuiper def. Jared Hamman by R2 TKO (Punches)

-Erik Perez defeated Ken Stone by R1 TKO (Strikes)

-Chico Camus def. Dustin Pague by Unanimous Decision

–Nik Lentz def. Eiji Mitsuoka by R1 TKO (Punches)

LowKick.com Awards:

Performance of the Night:

It would be hard to argue with the emphatic knockout of Melvin Guillard by Donald Cerrone here. After weathering an early burst, Cerrone showed some insane Muay Thai kickboxing to knock out a game challenger in Guillard.

Finish of the Night:

I hate to be repetitive, but Cerrone again earns the nod in his knockout of another top-ranked Lightweight. He may be facing Anthony Pettis in his next bout for a number one contender’s spot.

Upset of the Night:

In a night of few upsets, Chico Camus earns the award with his preliminary bout victory over the favored Dustin Pague.

Outer Photo: CombatLifestyle.com