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 |  Subject: UFC 150 Analysis: Benson Henderson, Frankie Edgar, Donald Cerrone, Melvin Guillard and More Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:57 am | |
| - Quote :
By MMA Sucka, Fri, August 10, 2012
UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II goes down this Saturday night from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
The event is headlined by a lightweight championship fight between
Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar, however the main card is filled with
a number of interesting match ups that are relevant in their respective
divisions.
With the top three bouts of Henderson vs. Edgar, Donald Cerrone vs.
Melvin Guillard and Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman likely to effect the
future of the weight class, we break down what a win on Aug. 11 means
for the six men carrying the UFC 150 fight card.
Benson Henderson
Benson Henderson is in a tough
spot going into his first title defense. The top of the UFC lightweight
division has been a revolving door of rematches in recent years, but UFC
president Dana White said that after Henderson and Edgar square off for
the second time at UFC 150, the rematches are done, no matter what the
result in Denver. Not that Henderson was planning on losing and having
an immediate rematch, but this stipulation adds pressure in the sense
that he must win or he won’t get a sniff of another title fight for
quite some time.
If Henderson can defeat Edgar once again, it means he has the chance
to start a long and prestigious title reign with a line of fresh
challengers. “Smooth” has said multiple times that he wants to break
Anderson Silva’s record for most UFC title defenses. If that is indeed
the case, it all begins at UFC 150.
Frankie Edgar
One could easily say that Saturday
night is do or die for Frankie Edgar in the UFC lightweight division.
Edgar has been nagged on for multiple months now to drop down to the
featherweight division where his frame is best suited and take a run at
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. “The Answer” has brushed off those
notions, insisting that he fights best at 155-pounds and has no desire
to cut the weight. It is hard to argue with Edgar’s stance, he was the
lightweight champion for two-years before losing the belt in Feb. and is
now the number one contender in the weight class.
Defeating Benson Henderson at UFC 150 means a number of things for
Edgar. He becomes a two-time lightweight champion, silence the critics
who say he is too small for 155-pounds and remains king of the
rematches. The New Jersey native has a lot on the line on Aug. 11 and
while a win is significant for every fighter on the card, it may very
well mean the most to Edgar.
Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone was begging the UFC
executives to give him a fight in his homestate of Colorado at UFC 150,
and he was given what he asked for. Not only did he get a fight on the
card, but he was matched against a name opponent in Melvin Guillard.
While beating Guillard is a solid addition to any resume, Donald
Cerrone has a lot more to lose in the fight. Cerrone has called out
Anthony Pettis on multiple occasions prior to his UFC 150 fight and if
he wants to face a fighter like Pettis, he absolutely must win. “Cowboy”
has a lot of momentum behind him right now, winning five of six UFC
fights. A win over Guillard, who is 1-2 in his last three fights,
doesn’t exactly launch the 29-year-old up the rankings, but it likely
will earn him the fight against Pettis.
Melvin Guillard
Melvin Guillard flirted with
title contention a few different times in recent years but was never
able to overcome the glaring weakness in his skill set – submission
defense. “The Young Assassin” took a minor step towards proving he is
shoring up his weaknesses when he defeated jiu-jitsu ace Fabricio Camoes
at UFC 148, but Donald Cerrone is arguably the more effective
submission fighter in MMA, so Guillard must be cautious.
As far as what a win means for Mr. Guillard, he proves he is still a
threat in the lightweight division and that he is well rounded enough to
beat multi-dimensional opponents. It would also be a big statement for
Guillard if he could win his second fight in a 28-day span.
Jake Shields
Former Strikeforce championship
makes his UFC middleweight debut against “The Ultimate Fighter” season 3
runner-up Ed Herman in one of the featured bouts of the night at UFC
150.
Shields defeating Herman in his divisional debut signifies a fresh
start for the former welterweight title challenger. There was talk of
Shields challenging middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva a few years
back when he was the champion in Strikeforce. If Shields ever hopes to
make that match a reality, winning his first UFC fight at middleweight
is a must.
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