UFC 150 Preview
After a great night of fights on Fox the UFC is set for a string of big title fights in the next two months. It will all start with the Lightweight Title fight between Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar. UFC 150 will feature this rematch of two of the best lightweight fighters in the world as Henderson defends his belt for the first time against the man he took it away from. At UFC 144 in February Frankie Edgar defended his belt against Henderson after a long series with Gray Maynard that saw Edgar come out on top twice, the first fight was a draw allowing him to keep his belt. With Maynard behind him Edgar would take on the #1 contender and former WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. Henderson had been on a roll after entering the UFC winning all three of his fights before earning a title shot. Meanwhile Edgar had fought his way to the top beating BJ Penn twice for the belt and doing the same to Maynard. Now he was looking for his third opponent as he tried to retain the lightweight title. The fight was a great one at UFC 144 as both fighters came out swinging and looking to end the fight early. There was no clear winner at the start of the fight as both fighters got their shots in which made it an extremely close fight. Then in the second round Henderson threw a great upkick that hit Edgar clean and really hurt him./ Edgar would not give up though as the fight continued but with Edgar looking like he got beat up. The fight wasn’t truly a beatdown by Henderson but he did land more shots and more big shots as he took a close unanimous decision. With the win Henderson took the belt and became the UFC Lightweight Champion while Edgar was forced to see his belt taken away. With such a close fight and a decision that saw two judges give the fight to Henderson and one give the fight to Edgar it was clear that a rematch was needed. For Henderson it is a chance to prove to everyone that he is the better fighter and to remove all doubt that people may have after the first fight. Henderson left japan with the belt but many believed that Edgar had won the fight and that the fight was only given to Henderson because of one clean shot that bloodied Edgar. Henderson goes into the rematch looking to prove everyone wrong and leave no doubters that he is the best lightweight in the UFC. Meanwhile Frankie Edgar looks like he is making a habit of having to fight everyone two times in a row. In 2010 Edgar fought BJ Penn for the lightweight title and won in a unanimous decision victory. The fight was so close that Edgar was forced to fight his first title defence against BJ Penn later that year, winning again in a unanimous decision. Then Edgar moved on to defend his belt against Gray Maynard in 2011 in a fight that ended in a draw allowing Edgar to retain his belt. The fight was clearly too close to determine a true winner and so Edgar was forced again to fight a rematch which he won in a 4th round KO. Edgar then moved on to UFC 144 where he lost the belt to Henderson and will again fight a rematch at UFC 150. Both fighters go into the fight with similar skills in the octagon meaning that the fight will likely be another showcase of their other skills. Henderson and Edgar are both good on the ground and when two wrestlers face off the usual tiebreaker is the stand-up game. Both fighters are also equal in the stand-up game with Edgar striking at a more careful pace and Henderson fighting more wildly. It will be another very close fight for the Lightweight Title that is extremely hard to predict. Looking at the matchup though, it seems to be Henderson’s time as he will walk away as the champion after a unanimous decision win.
With the top two lightweight fighters facing off in the main event the precursor will be a great fight between two rising lightweights. Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone are both still trying to figure things out in the UFC but they are in very opposite spectrums. For Guillard this fight means an attempt to finally meet his potential as a UFC fighter. As one of the most gifted athletes in the UFC Guillard has ridden his natural talent to a 47-11-3 MMA record. His talent has taken him far but he seems to ride it too much while not really focusing on learning the skills it takes to be a great fighter. Every time Guillard takes on a top opponent he seems to be overwhelmed by the experience and knowledge of the other fighter. For this reason Guillard has remained a middling in the division continuing to work his way up but never truly getting to the elite level. Meanwhile Donald Cerrone is one of the best lightweight fighters in MMA but his success in the WEC has not translated on the same level in the UFC. Cerrone began his UFC career with a four fight win streak but was never tested against an elite opponent. A loss to Nate Diaz showed that the elite UFC fighters in the division were another level that Cerrone might not be ready for. Now Cerrone looks to Guillard to climb back to that elite level of fighter and stay there. Both fighters are looking for a win that can put them in the mix for the title as they hope to add another name to the list of victories in order to move up to another level. It will be an entertaining fight between two men who could be the next in line, after Anthony Pettis, for a title shot but this win will be needed before they can move to the next fighter and will give everything to earn the win at UFC 150.
Fight Card
Main Event:
Benson “Smooth” Henderson vs. Frankie “The Answer” Edgar [Lightweight Title] (PPV)
Main Card:
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard (PPV)
Jake Shields vs. Ed “Short Fuse” Herman (PPV)
Yushin “Thunder” Okami vs. Buddy Roberts (PPV)
Justin “The American Kidd” Lawrence vs. Max “Blessed” Holloway (PPV)
Undercard:
Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez vs. Tommy “Wild Card” Hayden (Sportsnet)
Jared “The Messenger” Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper (Sportsnet)
Ken Stone vs. Erik “Goyito” Perez (Sportsnet)
Dustin “The Disciple” Pague vs. Chico “The King” Camus (Sportsnet)
Nik “The Carny” Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (Facebook)
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