Contributor: Connor Dillon
Welcome to the eleventh installment of this series leading up to Ben “Smooth” Henderson’s title defense and a rematch against Anthony Pettis at UFC 164. As a Champion for the UFC, he has been one of the most divisive amongst fans; according to many MMA fans and journalists, Ben Henderson is recorded as 1-3 in his last four championship defenses. His razor close decision wins as champion have made many fans dislike him for lack of conclusive endings, as well as beating by dubious decisions fan favorite Frankie Edgar.
My quest for understanding leads me to watch his previous ZUFFA fights, for both the WEC and the UFC, to see where he changed and became the champion he is today. His eleventh ZUFFA fight was his rematch against Frankie Edgar. After losing to Ben Henderson in a close, but clear decision, Frankie finally got his rematch after playing along with BJ Penn and then Gray Maynard. For Frankie this was a fight that could reclaim the title and silence the critics that continued talk of him being to small for lightweight. For Bendo, he could finally give the “WEC lightweights can’t hang with UFC lightweights” theory a proper funeral. The fight however, ended up much, much closer than many modern decisions.
Round 1:
They touch gloves and immediately following Bendo does his double pump. A couple more times. Edgar steps in with a high kick that Bendo steps out of range from. Bendo lands a leg kick. Bendo throws the double pump and Edgar tries to counter with a right but Bendo’s out of range. Bendo’s owning the center, but neither fighter is doing much with it. Bendo gets hit with a nut shot (karma’s a bitch), Herb Dean steps in to give him a break but he’s having none of it and they start back up. Edgar throws a switch leg kick that misses. Nice exchange, Bendo lands a jab, but Edgar gets in a good right hand. After some circling around, Bendo steps in with a jab and Edgar tries to counter but he can’t get it. Bendo lands a leg kick that almost makes Edgar fall off balance. Edgar chases Bendo around with a jab, but Bendo keeps controlling the distance. Another leg kick from Bendo lands and nearly gets Edgar to the floor. They definitely sound painful. They’re circling around and Bendo starts going into a side-on position. Edgar tries an oblique kick, but Bendo’s leg is just out of range. He tries a high kick, but it misses.
Bendo throws another leg kick and Edgar drops to the ground, Bendo’s foot in his hand. Edgar tries for a takedown, but Bendo has back control (mostly). Edgar keeps pushing but Bendo spins out and stands, Edgar does the same and throws a head kick that misses. Edgar lands a nice leg kick. Bendo steps in with a leg kick and almost gets a double collar tie after Edgar drops his hands to grab the kick. Edgar lets go though and pushes himself free. Edgar is chasing Bendo some more with that jab, but it isn’t landing. Edgar tries to uppercut Bendo, but he gets a jab to the face for the attempt. Bendo tries another leg kick but Edgar pulls his leg back just in time. Edgar with another head kick that misses. The two step in with combos, but neither land any shots. Bendo with a nice solid jab. Bendo with a left hook right straight combo stepping in but Edgar dodges both punches and circles out. Edgar comes in and gets hit with a knee, trying for a single leg but Bendo slips away from him. Edgar with a nice inside leg kick. Thirty seconds left and I’m looking for a fighter to make a statement. Bendo lands another leg kick that bends Edgar’s leg down, but Edgar drops in a shoots. He gets Bendo down after a moment of fighting. He tries to pass from half-guard, but Bendo reestablishes his guard and goes for a guillotine. Edgar is stacking up from guard, not doing much else though. The bell rings and Herb steps in.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. He kept landing those leg kicks, which are doing some solid damage. He dropped Edgar with it once, and controlled the positions on the ground. When he got taken down, he immediately went to reestablish his guard before locking up a guillotine. I think he landed more offensive movements and Edgar didn’t get enough in.
Round 2:
Between rounds you get to see Edgar’s leg and yikes, looking bad already. Bendo with a three times double pump. Edgar tries a high kick that misses. Both fighters playing it nicely. Bendo tries a body jab. Then a hook. Bendo comes in again with a leg kick, but Edgar pulls his leg back. Edgar falls off balance and Bendo charges in, but Edgar gets to his feet too quickly for anything to happen. Edgar with a nice left hook. Edgar drops down and lands a right to the body then the head. Bendo gets in a high kick that lands under the shoulder. Edgar catches it and tries to leg kick Bendo to the floor but it doesn’t work. He lets it go and then tries for a high kick that misses. Bendo with a jumping side kick to the leg of Edgar. Edgar keeps lifting his leg up like he’s gonna kick and Bendo is countering. Bendo with an axe kick that goes nowhere. Edgar tries an oblique kick, it misses. Bendo with another leg kick that Edgar can’t quite catch before hopping away. Edgar pressuring Bendo and then drops him with a right hand.
Bendo isn’t hurt, but he’s on his butt and Edgar comes in and grabs a front headlock position. He’s twisting it, trying to get Bendo out of position. Bendo on his knees so Edgar can’t land any knees to the head. Bendo playing the game here, he’s stood up but keeping one hand on the mat to keep Edgar from throwing any knees. Edgar keeps trying to drag him down, but Bendo is a tad too balanced for it. Fuck I really hate this three points of contact rule. Bendo goes down to one knee and Edgar looks to move around to the back but decides against it. He’s working that front headlock positions well. Bendo gets wrist control of one of Edgar’s hands and then stands up and circles out. Edgar throws a knee there, but it misses. Bendo with a front kick that misses. Edgar comes in and Bendo drops down to shoot. Edgar sprawls and gets an underhook. Bendo is bent over with both hands on the ground but the bottoms of his feet are touching. He goes down to one knee. Edgar gets into a stance to throw a knee and then decides to throw an uppercut that lands as Bendo stands up. They circle around and look to engage, but the bell rings before anything significant happens.
Score: 10-9 Edgar. Though he fell after getting off-balance, he controlled most of the stand up distance, he dropped Bendo, and also controlled him thoroughly on the ground for that round. (19-19).
Round 3:
Phil Nurse is in Edgar’s corner. Bendo throws a nice Brazilian kick that almost lands on Frankie. Frankie tries to get in a leg kick. Bendo throws a high kick that Edgar has to block. This first minute has been home to a lot of distance fighting. Bendo steps in with a knee, Edgar grabs it and then gets hit with an uppercut and he lets it go. Frankie with a couple leg kicks. Bendo lands a solid leg kick and tries to force an exchange, but Edgar darts out. They both throw kicks at the same time and Bendo almost gets in a trip. Bendo with a switch high kick that Edgar blocks. Frankie tries a step in head kick but Bendo is out of range. A couple punches land from Frankie. Bendo working his orthodox stance, tries a overhand right, but doesn’t land. He switches back to southpaw. Frankie drops down for a right hook to the body and then eats a couple jabs before he can do anything else.
Bendo steps in with a jab again. Edgar gets a nice inside leg kick in, but it almost rides a little high. Edgar with a left kick, jab, right leg kick combo. Bendo steps in with a body kick that Edgar grabs, but throws an uppercut that makes him release it. Edgar steps in close again and Bendo lands a knee to the body that Edgar grabs. Bendo throws a nice combination that makes Edgar let go. A minute left and Bendo getting into a side-on stance. He throws a nice side kick. He switches to orthodox and gets side on again. He steps up and lands a nice leg kick that Edgar takes. Edgar with a nice punch-punch-body kick combo. Bendo jumps in and lands a solid right hook. Edgar tries a high kick and then a side kick, but neither lands.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. There was a lot of movement that round, not a whole lot of grappling, but I feel like Bendo landed the harder shots and hit Edgar just a little more. Whole thing with Edgar is he just keeps moving, which is nice, but he’s not getting many effective punches or kicks in, while Bendo has hit him with leg kicks and knees as they exchange. Close round though, all the same. (29-28 Bendo on my card).
Round 4:
They come together and Bendo immediately gets in a leg kick that Edgar grabs and tries to take him down with. Bendo defends hard and Edgar lets go and then he gets hit with a knee. Twenty seconds in and Bendo’s already had three solid shots. Bendo going side-on and then landing a leg kick. Edgar with a left, right leg kick combo that Bendo checks. Bendo gets in a stiff jab. Edgar with another nice leg kick. Bendo throws a leg kick too soon and Edgar immediately swivels him to the ground. Edgar standing up, trying to get some kind of pass in, but Bendo throws a kick from the bottom that lands right to Edgar’s head. Bendo rolls forward and tries to get a takedown, but Edgar defends and grabs onto another front headlock. Edgar backs Bendo to the cage. Bendo is down on one knee and Edgar throws a knee to the body. Bendo stands and escapes, Edgar circles out to the center.
Bendo joins him and takes the center of the Octagon. Good exchange ends with Edgar eating a couple jabs. His face is a little red. Herb steps in a pauses it as Edgar’s mouthpiece dropped out. Edgar picks it up and puts it in, and they start once more. Edgar hops into distance with a combo that misses and Bendo lands some nice punches in return. Edgar gets in a solid leg kick. Bendo comes in with a leg kick that misses and Edgar counters with a right hand. Bendo attempts a front kick, but misses. A couple good exchanges, neither fighter quite winning it entirely. Bendo lunging in with a jab that barely misses. Edgar grabs a body kick but Bendo actually pushes forwards and lands a good combo that makes Edgar back up to the cage. Bendo tries to chase him with punches but Edgar circles out and returns to the center. A nice exchange in the center sees both guys land. Bendo putting his arms down and waving them out, trying to get Edgar to do something. Bendo steps in with a jab and Edgar catches him with a right that makes him back up quickly. Edgar circles around. Bendo throws a body kick that Edgar catches, but Bendo once again throws some punches and makes Edgar release it. The bell rings and the round ends.
Score: 10-9 Bendo. I’m tempted to give this round to Edgar for the takedown and subsequent control, but that was a minute of grappling that he led, and outside of a couple strikes towards the end of the round, it felt like Bendo was leading the dance on the feet. He landed more shots, seemed to damage Edgar, and what else can you think when a guy has your leg, you punch him in the face, and he drops it down? It doesn’t look good, and Edgar kept doing it. Also Bendo landed that nice kick from the ground. (39-37 Bendo on my card).
Round 5:
They come to the center where Bendo throws out a double pump and then tries a leg kick that misses. Edgar throws an overhand that misses. Bendo working a lot from orthodox, and as soon as I say this he switches back. Edgar with a step in punch, places his leg behind Bendo’s and pushes, forcing Bendo to fall backwards. Edgar can’t get into an advantageous position though, and Bendo stands up quickly. Edgar once again lands a left leg kick, jab, right inside leg kick on Bendo. Nice exchanges as they circle around the outside. Edgar hops in and lands an inside leg kick. Bendo tries a leg kick but Edgar pulls his leg back in time. He moves forward and gets in a couple punches. Bendo with a body kick that Edgar grabs the foot on, but Bendo slips free. Edgar throws a leg kick back. Good exchanges. Bendo controlling the center, making Frankie work from the outside. Frankie comes in and almost ducks down for a takedown that could’ve happened. Edgar tries a leg kick and gets hit with an uppercut-hook combo. Bendo whiffs bad on a leg kick. Good head movement from Edgar makes Bendo miss on punches.
Edgar steps in and gets leg kick in that makes Bendo go to a knee, but he doesn’t capitalize. A minute ten left and Frankie looks like Vintage Edgar. He catches a kick and actually lands a punch before letting go. Bendo coming in and out but not able to get anything solid going. Bendo gets hit with two rights from Edgar that land hard. Edgar slips bad on a head kick and drops to the ground, Bendo jumps on him but nothing solid comes around. They stand and then Bendo lands a head kick on the way out. They circle around, have a nice exchange, but nothing big lands. The bell rings and they step close and have a couple words with each other.
Score: 10-9 Edgar. Even with that bad slip at the end and what looks like tired striking, Edgar I feel was controlling that round. He tripped Bendo, landed some very, very solid shots. It was a good round for him. (48-47 Bendo on my card).
A fight summary pops up and shows that Bendo had better landing percentages in Significant strikes, punches and kicks, though Edgar had significantly more time in control. Could go either way, as it was a very close fight.
The Judges Score It: 49-46 Edgar, 48-47 Henderson, & 48-47 for the winner by split decision Ben “Smooth” Henderson.
Fighter Thoughts: Bendo definitely improved his defense to Edgar’s single legs, and made it difficult get more than his foot under his control. I think Bendo improved everything just enough to eke out a win, while Edgar kind of plateaued and seemed unusually tired by the end. While it was a close fight, I think a 49-46 in either direction is unreasonable and wrong. Out of all the fights, I feel this second one is the one that has many of Edgar’s fans and Bendo’s haters riled up. I think it honestly hinges on the fourth round, because Bendo definitely took 2 & 3, and Edgar definitely took rounds 1 and 5. It’s just so damn close, but it isn’t anything for people to literally say Bendo should’ve lost twice in a row. Having watched this in 1/8 and 1/4 speeds, I just can’t see this as a fight that Bendo lost. At most it should’ve been a 48-47 split between the two, with Bendo the winner.
(Keep checking back daily for more of The 13 Days of Bendo leading up to his title fight with Anthony Pettis!)
-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.
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