Conventional wisdom would seem to believe that if Ben “Smooth” Henderson could beat Frankie “The Answer” Edgar once, then he could definitely pull it off again. If history has anything to say on the matter, Frankie has never lost a rematch, even when he lost the first one.
Frankie Edgar will try to regain the title he lost to Ben Henderson at UFC 144, last February. His stick and move style confused opponents in the past and seemed simply to be too fast for his previous competitors to gauge. Not being the case for Henderson who was able to drop Edgar with a big knee in the second round and once again, Edgar found himself in an all out back and forth brawl for the rest of the bout.
Dana White has already stated Nate Diaz will get the next shot at the title, so fans will finally see an end to the spree of rematches in the UFC’s lightweight division. Unless of course the loser of the next bout is granted a rematch. Either way, Diaz will have his hands full trying to defend the take downs from either world class wrestler, regardless of who wins tonight.
The real question is, does Frankie Edgar have many more of these “wars of attrition” left in him? Dana White believes that battles in the cage take a toll on a fighters body and in Frankie Edgar’s case, is a serious reason why he should drop down to the UFC’s featherweight division.
My prediction: I believe Henderson will out work Edgar and retain his title. I’ve been watching him ever since he took the WEC over by storm and even feel that he won the fight against Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, right before entering the UFC.
Watch this amazing highlight compilation of the first fight between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson. It also shows highlights from fights that led these two fighters towards their eventual battle at UFC 144.
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VIDEO COURTESY OF THE UFC AND UPLOADER JamezJitsu..
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has stated he is fighting a close friend in tonight’s co-main event bout against Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard. If Cerrone wins he will probably face Anthony Pettis. If the stars align and Pettis vs. Cerrone is booked, I believe that fight is an obvious title eliminator and will create a strong contender to challenge for the lightweight strap of gold.
Both fighters have impressive stand up skills but there is no way Cerrone will stand and bang with Guillard when he clearly doesn’t have to. Simply put, Guillard is dangerous on his feet and vulnerable to submission attacks on the ground. Not to mention, he didn’t even make weight last night and was forced to give 10% of his purse to Cerrone and another 10 to the UFC. Missing weight always conjures up negative questions of an individuals dedication, drive, and focus.
My prediction: Look for Cerrone to set up a take down with strikes early in the first round. He will have the home crowd advantage and a solid ground game to back his play. I believe he will succeed and Guillard will drop another submission loss in the UFC.
Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman is an interesting matchup between two men in completely different stages in their careers. Shields is coming off his first win since he entered the UFC, beating Martin Kampmann to go on to lose to George “Rush” St. Pierre and then to Jake Ellenberger right after the passing of his father.
Herman on the other hand may be peaking at the right time in his MMA career. He’s definitely a veteran in the UFC since fighting for the right to be considered the third TUF winner, where he dropped a decision loss to Kendall Grove. Lately though he has racked up an impressive three fight win streak, finishing all three of his opponents in dominant fashion.
My prediction: I believe momentum is important in this sport. I’m glad to see Shields back in the middle weight division where he seemed to have more success, but I don’t think it will be enough of a deciding factor in the fight. Therefore I believe Ed Herman will knockout Jake Shields when they meet in the Octagon tonight.
If Herman gets past Shields, he might start to enter the title picture for a shot at Anderson “The Spider” Silva. He sure has been talking about it lately.
Listed below are the rest of tonight’s fights. I recommend following Sherdog.com’s play-by-play analysis of the even at 7 PM central time.
Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts
Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway
Preliminary card
Dennis Bermudez vs. Tommy Hayden
Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper
Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez
Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus
Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka