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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Frankie Edgar earned an immediate rematch against Ben Henderson after their UFC 144 bout, not because the decision was bad, but because he had granted several rematches himself. Into UFC 150, the UFC said there would be no third bout between the two, regardless of what happened in the fight, as they needed to let the division move on.
That's massively unfortunate for Edgar, as he was screwed out of retaining his title in one of the worst decisions handed down in a UFC title bout in ages.
Henderson took a split decision in their main event bout in Denver, taking scores of 48-47 on two judges' scorecards despite Edgar taking a 49-46 card from the final judge. Indeed, most of the conversation online had Edgar ahead three rounds to two at the very least by the end of the fight.
The Champ started the fight off well with a solid first round, battering Edgar's legs with kicks and tripping him up to take the first frame. Edgar turned around in the second and scored a big knockdown and nearly locked on a choke.
The third round was as close as a round could be, and easily could have gone to either fighter, but in the fourth and fifth rounds it was Edgar landing strikes and pressing the action while Henderson was mostly tentative and hanging back.
Despite what looked like three clear rounds for Edgar, he now walks out without the belt for a second time. And after winning a clear decision the first time around, Henderson now has the screwjob decision that would normally warrant a rematch.
It's a mess for Edgar, who now is in the back of the line at lightweight even though he should be holding the belt, and Henderson moves on to face Nate Diaz later this year.
[Ben Henderson art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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