Saturday, August 11, 2012

UFC 150: Henderson-Edgar II Preview

And so arrives the event that should have been a big deal, but isn't.

I don't know why the UFC did not make a bigger deal out of going to the city of UFC 1 and 2 on the 150th major installment of the company.

However, they have done this event a service by putting a UFC World Lightweight Championship match as the main event, and most likely a No. 1 contender's bout in the co-main event.

Champion Benson Henderson should have been getting a rematch with Anthony "Showtime" Pettis in what may have been the greatest (and final) fight of World Extreme Cagefighting. However, Frankie Edgar was able to convince enough important people that he deserved a rematch for the title.

This will be two all-around fighters vying for supremacy. It will be Bendo's tae kwon do and BJJ versus Edgar's boxing and wrestling. But it will also be an oversized lightweight against an undersized one.

It appears obvious now that Edgar will be unable to stay at 155 pounds whether he wants to or not. Dana White has been very adamant that he wants a mega-fight between Edgar and featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and it appears clear that it will be coming soon, regardless of this fight's result.

This fact makes this fight even more annoying. We seriously took the title shot away from Pettis for this?

Anyway, I felt that Bendo won the last fight outright, and I see no reason why that would change in just a few months. I expect Bendo to win by decision on this night.

Lightweight Bout: Donald Cerrone v. Melvin Guillard

This should be a good bout that will start with the two standing and banging.

Both are accomplished grapplers, so I would not be surprised if it became a grappling match. That said, both prefer to keep a fight standing for excitement purposes, and given that they were once teammates, I'd expect  that they want to go with the game less threatening.

Guillard is on short notice and as such, came in overweight. I think he'll wear out by the end of the fight. I expect Cerrone to pick up a Round 3 submission.

Middleweight Bout: Ed Herman v. Jake Shields

I give Shields credit: He saw there was no way that he could get into the title shot at welterweight in the near future, so he moved to middleweight.

Herman is certainly no slouch, but I'll take Shields' wrestling to control the fight. I take Shields by decision.

Rest of the main card

Yushin Okami v. Buddy Roberts: Okami by KO 1

Jeremy Lawrence v. Max Holloway: Holloway by decision

Overall, it's not a super strong card, but it will serve its purpose and has a decent main event, so I'm satisfied.

Enjoy the fights!

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