Rampage headlines another UFC homecoming
Last summer, UFC 134 brought the company back to one of the sport’s spiritual homes: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This weekend, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to another location central to the development of mixed martial arts, as UFC 144 marks the first time the organization has touched down in Japan in more than a decade.
The loaded seven-fight, four-hour pay-perview event — taking place at the famed Saitan Super Arena — is headlined by a UFC lightweight title clash between champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (14-1-1) and challenger Benson “Smooth” Henderson (15-2-0). After having faced just two opponents — BJ Penn and Gray Maynard — over his last four fights, Edgar steps into the cage with Henderson, the surging former WEC lightweight champion, in a bout that could be an early contender for Fight of the Year.
The 28-year-old Edgar delivered his most impressive performance to date last time out, stopping Maynard in the fourth round of their second fight of 2011 last October. He’s shown tremendous heart and tenacity over the last year, surviving shaky first rounds in each of his last two encounters with Maynard only to get better as the fights went on.
After being on the business end of Anthony Pettis’s “Showtime Kick” — Google it, trust me — in the last fight in WEC history, Henderson started his UFC career packed into the middle of the deep and talented lightweight division.
Over a seven-month stretch starting at UFC 129, and culminating at the first UFC on FOX event in Chicago, Henderson left little doubt that he was the top contender in the 155-pound ranks. He controlled Canadian Mark Bocek in April before halting Jim Miller’s seven-fight winning streak in August, and dominating Clay Guida in a title eliminator bout in November, setting up this meeting with Edgar.
These two should combine to close out the show in style.
Henderson has always been a well-rounded fighter with all the physical tools to be a champion, but he’s upped the intensity and aggression since entering the UFC. He’s a strong wrestler with a sneaky-good submission game, and his hands have improved a great deal over the last three fights.
“The Answer” will look to continue employing the strategy that has carried him to these championship heights in the first place. In addition to his heart and Wolverine-like recovery skills, Edgar uses a stick-and-move style to keep his opponents off balance, his already fast hands and slick footwork made even more dangerous by his ability to mix in a takedown when you least expect it.
Edgar and Henderson delivered some of the best performances of 2011 separately, so there’s a good chance that putting them together in the cage this weekend will produce something special.
Saturday’s event also marks a homecoming of sorts for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-4-0) — a standout in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships earlier in his career — as he squares off with former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader (13-2-0) in the co-main event.
The Saitama Super Arena has been the site of some of Jackson’s greatest victories (power-bomb knockout of Ricardo Arona) and worst defeats (Wanderlei Silva, Part 2), and after petitioning the UFC to be included on this card, the 33-year-old gets a chance to compete in front of his Japanese fans one last time.
Bader rebounded from back-to-back losses with a first-round finish of Jason Brilz back in November, but Jackson is a stiff test for the former TUF winner. Both have strong wrestling to fall back on, but prefer to throw hands, which could be a dangerous road to take for Bader, as Jackson still packs all kinds of pop when he “throws them bungalows” — as he would say.
Of the five additional fights on the main card, keep an eye on the lightweight battle between Anthony Pettis (14-2) and Joe Lauzon (21-6), and the featherweight contenders bout pairing Bart Palaszewski (36-14) and Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2).
E. Spencer Kyte writes The Province’s Keyboard Kimura (theprovince.com/mmablog), and is a contributor to Ufc.com and Fight Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @ESKONMMA.