ufc UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II

[D. S. Veteran]

And here we go for yet ANOTHER rematch for the LW title. This card has been flying under the radar since people aren't that interested in ANOTHER rematch and the cards leading up to it were serious duds.The whole card pretty much sucks on paper with an underwhelming undercard and only a main and co-main event worht of notice.

Preliminary Card on FX

Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka - "The Carny" has been putting on an effort to improve his fighting style, shifting from a relentless lay'n'pray attack that caracterized him. Unfortunately for him, that has also cost him his win streak, seeing how he's 1-2, 1 NC in his last 4 (and the NC was originally a loss). Mitsuoka was hired for the UFC 144 card in Japan, the original Edgar vs Henderson fight. He got caught by Takanori Gomi but put on a nice fight. His skillset is not on par with Lentz but even if he loses (very likely), he will probably be kept around until the UFC Macau card.

Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus - Pague gets to welcome Chico Camus into the UFC. He's also probably fighting for his job, seeing how he's 1-2 after TUF. Camus is a Roufusport fighter so this should be fun.

Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez - In his last fight, Ken Stone beat Dustin Pague who was previously beaten by John Albert who was beaten by Erik Perez in his last fight. It's all come full circle. Both guys are pretty evenly matched so it's a toss-up. Pure undercard fodder.

Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper - Hamman continues his stint at MW with the same pace as the rest of his UFC career by never getting a 2 fight win streak going. His last fight was a brutal beatdown at the hands of Constantinos Philippou, because he insisted to rely only on his chin and ate every shot until he collapsed. I hope this time he understands it's better to dodge and attack. Kuiper lost his debut against Rafael Natal and is now looking to make something out of his UFC stint. We could have a firefight in our hands.

Dennis Bermudez vs. Tom Hayden - Bermudez rebounded from his UFC debut, which he almost won, by beating Pablo Garza convincingly. He advances "downward" by fighting a guy that was also submitted in the first round of his UFC debut. At least he gets top position in the undercard.

Main Card

Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway - After he was terribly missmatched for his UFC debut against Dustin Poirier, Holloway bounced back with a decisive win over Pat Schilling. People say he could have pushed for a finish but he fought smart and dominated the fight, exactly the opposite of what he did against Poirier. He now faces against TUF standout Justin Lawrence, who is a true threat. If he's fixed the fighter IQ problems that cost him the TUF crown (by grappling with Chiesa when he was beating him soundly on the feet), he'll be looking for another KO for his highlight reel.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts - From fighting for the title to fighting a guy named "Buddy", who's probably the Mike Russow of MW. At least it's in the main card and he will keep his job until UFC Macau. He still needs a win or else risks being sent to Strikeforce to fight Luke Rockhold or whoever holds the belt.

Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman - Shields returns to MW in an effort to revitalize his "career". After beating a lazy Yoshihiro Akiyama (who could've easily won the fight had he produced some offense) with his incredibly ****ty boxing, Shields fights Ed Herman, a low-mid tier MW. Seeing how Herman has some strking skills, Shields is probably going to try and take it to the ground and lay on top of him. I hope Herman cuts him off at the pass and knocks his face him, much like Ellenberger did. It goes without saying that Shields will never, ever win the MW title in the UFC.

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard - If Guillard doesn't do anything stupid, he can stand toe to toe against Cerrone. But seeing how Guillard only knows how to do stupid things... this will probably end quickly by choke. He did beat Fabricio Camoes by using his wits, but Cerrone is no Cam?es. Even if he fights smart, courtesy of the Blackzillians, Cerrone is a vicious LW with a very strong chin to match his powerful Muay Thai.

Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar - While Edgar vs Maynard needed a rematch because of the draw, I don't think this fight should be happening and tying up the division again. Henderson clearly won the first fight. (But but... the takedowns? Henderson got right back up without trouble, Edgar didn't do any significant damage.) Still, here we go again. We all know Edgar: a FW who fights at LW because he dislikes cutting weight. Good boxing, tons of heart. Benson is a HUGE LW with tons of power, TKD striking and strong grappling. Maybe he will push for a finish, but it's very unlikely since Edgar is extremely resilient. Still, I think he takes it 50-45 or 49-46 again.

[Rappy Veteran]

this really has gone under the radar, I think it might be a good ppv

[D. S. Veteran]

this really has gone under the radar, I think it might be a good ppv

Only if every fight is a highlight reel barnburner with a finish.

[D. S. Veteran]

this really has gone under the radar, I think it might be a good ppv

It wasn't.

Preliminary Card

Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka - This fight was a Facebook prelim. Why!? It ended up airing on FX to fill some air time but if that didn't happen, we would've never been able to see Lentz FW debut. Lentz won, as expected, but he finished. I guess he really took attention to his critics and changed up his game for good. Mitsuoka never had a chance. He's 0-2 in the UFC but will probably be kept around until the Macau card. As for Lentz, I don't know for sure but there are a lot of available fights in the FW division.

Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus - Pague had some good chances but couldn't force a finish and paid for it. Camus just kept controlling the fight until the inevitable 30-27. Pague is probably getting cut and Camus get another undercard fight.

Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez - Pow! Right in the kisser. Perez clipped him good and pounced for the finish. Stone may claim it was an early stoppage but it wasn't. He was out of it and only woke back up after getting punched yet again. Maybe match Perez up with Camus?

Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper - Jared Hamman is an extremely stupid individual with cornermen to match. He was beaten into a pulp yet again. 2 minutes into the fight and he was throwing pillow punches and getting tagged over and over again. After the first round, they never should have let him go out with a torn muscle to get beaten down. There was no way he was going to win that fight after getting lit up like that. Also, was it just me or did the round end when there were 8 seconds left, which stopped a Kuiper punch that would've probably put Hamman away? Kuiper just had to bid his time and pick his shots. If he still has a job, match Hamman up with Court McGee, another guy who just loves to take punches on the chin. As for Kuiper... maybe one of the MW that the UFC picked up after TUF Brazil?

Dennis Bermudez vs. Tom Hayden - Bermudez was in trouble there but bounced back and used his wrestling to pick up a clear win. Very nice standing guillotine, the guy tapped with only seconds in the round. He's doing much better than Diego Brand?o, who lost at UFC 146. Maybe match him up with Lentz, an excelent grappler, who also won by finish on this card?

Main Card

Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway - Holloway put a beating on Lawrence, who looked tentative with his striking and showed poor fight IQ by looking only for flashy kicks and not using his strong wrestling. The liver shot that crumpled him was vicious. Match both guys with some of the better FW prospects that the UFC picked up after TUF Brazil.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts - Okami won. What a surprise. Roberts was outclassed by a mile. Once Okami saw that he had some sting in his punches, he switched to wrestling mode and just pounded him out. It was very generous of Herb Dean not to call the fight at the end of the first round. Okami should fight either Shields or Lombard in order to boost himself back up the ranks.

Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman - Shields returns to MW and to his old ways: laying on top of dudes until the judges give you the fight. Herman fought in an extremely dumb manner: he had the striking to back Shields up and opted to clinch with him. He practically gifted the fight to him. Shields continues to be boring as watching paint dry. The UFC has no way to use him: he's too good to bury but too boring to headline/fight on a card that people pay money to watch.

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard - BAM! What a finish. Guillard was out cold. Cerrone used his talents in the cage and on the mic to get himself a top contender fight against Anthony Pettis. That fight has the potential to be AMAZING. As for Guillard, I don't know. Use him, like Lauzon, as a spoiler/litmus test? He extremely phisically gifted but just can't seem to beat top tier fighters despite it.

Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar - When the fight ended, I was a bit angry because I knew that Frankie was going to get the nod, despite the fight being pretty much a draw. His fight is built for point fighting, much like Dominick Cruz's, never having Henderson in trouble, not pushing for a finish when he got a knockdown. I was pleasentely surprised to hear the split decision for Henderson. This finally frees up a division that was stalled since 2010! Diaz vs Henderson followed by the winner of Cerrone vs Pettis. As for Edgar, he should just finally drop to FW.

[dippednbutter]

So happy to find a ESPN UK live stream, so not worth paying for this card. Mainly wanted to see the Holloway and Guillard fights. Damn, I thought Holloway was in deep with Lawrence. Had high expectations for him and it was going to be painful to watch the Hawaiian lose. But you got to love liver shots. In fact since I took my first liver shot, I have always been a huge fan. That crap is crippling. Guillard, he choked again, wild and let Cerrone off the hook. But Cerrone is going to wish he didn't call out Pettis. Pettis is a much more technical striker.