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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson dominated Nate Diaz last Saturday at UFC on FOX 5. The fight had one of those inevitability feelings to it, in that you just knew the fight was going all five rounds even though Henderson was dominating. All credit to Henderson for bringing it throughout the fight, he was trying to stop Diaz but couldn't. The Diaz brothers are both incredibly hard to finish, and if you're going to beat them it's probably going to be by decision.
Henderson looked great in the fight, mixing it up beautifully and destroying Nate's gameplan. Henderson's leg kicks and even leg punches prevented any kind of credible offense on Nate's part. It was a great gameplan and he executed it brilliantly. Where he goes from here is unclear, but Henderson made a major statement with this win. I know the UFC lightweight division is the deepest in MMA, but the future is looking good for him.
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Rory MacDonald also made a statement Saturday, but not the one he was trying to make. He also dominated his fight, beating B.J. Penn to a pulp, but it was his antics in the cage that made the biggest impression. The fact is, B.J. shouldn't have come out of retirement for this fight. If he still wants to fight, he should be allowed to, but not against a guy like MacDonald. This was a total mismatch.
Rory's showboating made a mockery of his biggest victory to date. He showed no class, and it cost him the favor of the fans. This wasn't a planned attempt to become a villain, ala Josh Koscheck, he was just acting like a jerk. This was evident from Rory's reaction during the post-fight interview in the cage where he looked crushed that the fans were booing him so much.
In the very first moments of the fight, the crowd was solidly behind B.J., chanting his name loudly. It quickly became apparent, though, that Rory was leagues better than B.J. this night. The crowd started chanting Rory's name, but that's when the showboating began. Rory started dancing around and acting the fool. There's two major problems with this. One, this was likely B.J.'s final fight. The guy's a legend, you have to show him respect. B.J. has accomplished more than most fighters have in this sport, it doesn't matter if you like him or not, you have to respect what he's done.
The second major problem is that Rory has done comparatively nothing in his young career so far. The highlight would undoubtably be a dominating decision win over Nate Diaz, however that was with Diaz in a weight class that he's not best suited for. Rory is essentially a rookie showing up a well-respected veteran. That's like a rookie showing up Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher. There's no question that Lewis and Urlacher are nowhere near what they used to be, but you don't show them up if you're just some untested rookie.
After watching Rory dance around like a circus clown, the crowd turned on him and started raining down the boos. It was obvious that this bothered Rory as they pelted him with derision as he was interviewed by Joe Rogan after the fight. The good news is that this shouldn't have a lasting impact on Rory, especially if he comes out and wins against a few more big names.
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Going back to the crowd reactions from UFC on FOX 5, the UFC should really try to mic the crowds better. I want to feel like they're right in the living room with me. A hot crowd always adds to an event. The crowd Saturday sounded pretty good, but the UFC should try to do even better next time, especially for FOX events.
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Matt Mitrione refused to submit to VADA testing leading up to his fight against Roy Nelson because it would have been "an unnecessary distraction." My BS meter is beeping like crazy on this one. That's about as weak an excuse as you can come up with. I have no idea if Mitrione has anything to hide, but this sure makes it seem like he does. The best way to avoid distraction is to not let stuff distract you. It's really just that simple. I fail to see how some drug tests are going to provide such a big distraction. By refusing, Mitrione paints himself in a bad light, and that's the real unnecessary distraction.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com
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