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I'm being a little tough on this one with the score, but there were definitely some good fights. The problem was twofold: A bad decision in the main event, and a bad fight with Jake Shields and Ed Herman.
Here's the thing, though: it's hard to really call Henderson-Edgar a robbery because the rounds were close. I thought it was a pretty clear-cut decision for Edgar, which would have bucked the historical trend I mentioned in my last article, but it was still there. At the same time, none of the rounds was a blowout, or even necessarily all that decisive. Edgar is a tough guy, and he would just be so much better at 145. I hate to even say it because it's going to be brought up any time anyone talks about him, but it's true. He'd have more power at that weight and wouldn't be at such a size disadvantage. I want to see it.
But anyway, the rest of the card was mostly pretty good. Okami-Roberts was lackluster, but Lawrence-Holloway and Cerrone-Guillard were really fun fights. Erik Perez and Nik Lentz both made definitive statements, and Dennis Bermudez took a thrilling one round fight over Tommy Hayden. Good times. But those won't be the things you think about when you think UFC 150. It'll be Edgar getting hosed (and again, I had the fight for Edgar and so did most people, but it's not exactly Leonard Garcia territory here), and Donald Cerrone going all Street Fighter on Melvin Guillard.
At the very least, Henderson-Nate Diaz is going to be great. And hopefully we'll see Frankie Edgar go to featherweight. A Bendo-Edgar trilogy would be great, but typically that only happens when a rubber match is needed. Though not everyone agrees, Henderson is up 2-0. Rubber match ain't happening. Tough talking points coming out of the event, but that's life.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR: (7.5)
Good night of fights and even though I disagreed with the judges on the championship decision, this pay-per-view was well worth the cost. I was excited to see Yushin Okami back in the Octagon, as this was his first fight back since his knock out loss to Tim Boetech at UFC 144 this past February. His fight against Buddy Roberts was a nice way to come back, and he dominated Roberts everywhere the fight went. Nice finish for Okami.
The Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman was boring and I was not impressed with either fighter. Even though Shields won a unanimous decision in this fight he will need to do much better if he wants to earn another title shot any time soon.
Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard made up for it. This was one of the craziest come from behind wins I have ever seen. This fight made the price for the pay-per-view worth it. Guillard had Cerrone hurt badly and let him off the hook early in round one. I was sure the fight was over and that Cerrone would not be able to come back. Guillard backed off just when I thought he had the fight won and allowed Cerrone back into the fight. After regaining his senses Cerrone landed a left high kick that rocked Guillard. One huge right from Cerrone and that was the fight. Great finish. Great come back. Great fight.
Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar started fast and ended up being my fight of the night. Henderson landed several great low kicks early that were brutal. Edgar was able to take Henderson down early and I had the first two rounds as dead even. I scored the last three rounds for Edgar. I had him as the clear winner, but the fight was so close I would not have been surprised if the decision had gone either way. I know this is going to be a controversial decision, but the bottom line is that if you want to win a championship you have to take it. Edgar fought well and won on my card. It is a disappointing loss for Edgar, but he will be back. He should drop to 145 and fight at his natural weight. If he does, he should challenge for a title in late 2013 after one win against a top five fighter.
GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR: (7.0)
The card was full of exciting fights, the complete injustice done to Frankie Edgar CANNOT be undone. That was a clear cut unanimous decision win for Edgar. It's such an injustice that the rest of a good card will be overlooked. It's time for someone in a legal way to school in depth the judges that judge these fights. Regulations MUST be put in place. Frankie Edgar is the best lightweight in the world and the true UFC Lightweight Champion. That is a decision that should be overturned by the commission based on judging ignorance.
DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR: (10.0)
Bonus points awarded to Joe Silva for excluding the big guys tonight. No one wanted to see a repeat of the heavyweight fights from UFC 135, and Silva duly dodged that bullet. He's not always perfect though, because UFC 144 was near perfection until Jake Shields turned up and spoiled the party atmosphere. Shields is the human cure for insomnia, and he managed to repeat the trick tonight. It wasn't the worst fight I've ever seen, but rated alongside the other fights tonight, it sucked, and he sucked, even if he did get the win.
That undercard tonight was epic, and they should hold every UFC event thousands of feet above sea level (Get a card to Bolivia as soon as possible). If you don't want to show you haven't acclimatized sufficiently, then get the job done early, and end the fight by any means necessary. Lentz looked great at featherweight but I'll reserve judgement on his potential until he fights someone better. Camus vs. Pague went the distance, but it was still a very engaging fight to watch. Erik Perez provided the first WOW moment of the night. Loved the Kuiper win over the Hamman, several unnecessary shots before the stoppage, but he wouldn't stay down, so nothing to really complain about in that one. Bermudez did what was expected of him, and proved unquestionably that he could take a shot in the process.
Great performance by Holloway in the first fight on the PPV despite his limited experience. This kid is going places. Okami did what was expected of him even if it wasn't decisively quick enough. I felt a little sorry for Okami, he was on a hiding to nothing, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Covered Shields above, falling into an unconscious state just thinking about him again. Cerrone vs. Guillard turned out exactly as expected, fast and furious. What I didn't expect was that comeback, I thought Cerrone was gone, and the finish was just incredible and a pleasure to watch. Cerrone vs. Pettis? Please make that fight happen before Christmas.
Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the title fight, I didn't find it quite as enthralling as the first time around. Slow in patches, and both were less engaging at the start, although it picked up as the fight progressed. I'm not going to comment on the result and whether I thought it was the right result. If we just ignore it, the problem might go away. I can only imagine how many fans are tweeting Dana White right now, all demanding an immediate rematch. I don't want to see another rematch at 155 lbs so I hope he stands firm and gives the shot to Nate Diaz as promised. Enough is enough. To summarize, I loved this card, it's my new No 1. for 2012, just surpassing UFC 144 for overall enjoyment, despite Jake Shields trying to ruin my night!
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_14107.shtml
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