UFC 164 preview: Henderson-Pettis II [Audio for more detail]

UFC's advertising department must be getting stretched thin thanks to the endless flow of events.

Why do I think so? Because I almost completely forgot that the rematch I just HAD TO SEE has not been advertised much on my TV and I only remembered it was happening after I forgot the last UFC Fight Night card. (There was one on Wednesday if you didn't catch it. Condit beat Kampmann by Rd. 4 TKO.)

So yeah, if UFC wants to keep its buyrate up, it may be wise of them to invest more in the PPV advertising and not disperse Fight Night ads on channels fight fans don't watch.

Thankfully, I did not completely miss the chance to see Benson 'Smooth' Henderson defend the UFC World Lightweight Championship against Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis, and I'll be able to check out the replay once my work is done for the night.

This fight, as many know, is a rematch of the final fight in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, where Pettis defeated then-champion Henderson by winning the last round with the "Showtime Kick."

The rematch is probably not going to hit the heights of their first fight, which was a candidate for the best fight in not only WEC history, but all of MMA's history. That said, it'd be hard to call this fight uninteresting, as I firmly expect a good matchup between two guys whose skills have clearly improved since their last bout. Bendo's striking and wrestling have become a lot more controlling and he has been able to earn decisions thanks to these improvements. Likewise, Pettis' striking is not only more innovative, but also more devastating. He clearly still holds the advantage while standing in my view. But it has been proven that a lay-and-pray strategy works on Pettis, as seen when Guida took him down for two of three rounds to steal a decision. The question now lies in whether Bendo will go on the offensive with takedowns or continue to act with striking as his default style. My guess is that five rounds do, in fact, make all the difference because that will leave plenty of time for Bendo to figure a way to victory out. I say that Pettis picks up the first two rounds but drops the last three. Ben Henderson by decision. The remaining fights will be given details in audio form, but here's the basic rundown. Barnett over Mir; Mendes over Guida; Rothwell over Vera; Poirier over Koch Follow me at twitter.com/seantherebel and like my page at www.facebook.com/SeanNetworkBlogs.