This Thursday will decide two things. The first is who will become the UFC's first Bantamweight Champion in a fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgenson. The second will be Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis fighting for a shot at the winner of UFC 125's Lightweight Championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. The fact that this fight has legitimate title implications for the two WEC fighters makes this the most important fight on the card. I'm also in the minority thinking that both of these fighters could make an impact in the UFC's shark tank of a lightweight division. While Zuffa may not expect for anyone in the WEC's LW division to make an impact, I think there is far too great an upside on two exciting fighters like Henderson and Pettis. The only bad matchup coming out of this and 125 is Gray Maynard so let's keep our fingers crossed for that not to happen.
Coming into this fight Benson Henderson has cleared out the WEC's Lightweight Division. He's faced Nigerian Striker Anthony Njokuani who he finished 42 seconds into the second round with a guillotine choke. He faced Shane Roller who couldn't make it outside of the second minute of the first round when Henderson finished him via TKO. His next fight in the WEC just happened to be the Fight of the Year in a back and forth bout with Donald Cerrone that also won Benson the WEC interim Lightweight Belt. He then became the undisputed WEC Lightweight Champion after guillotine choking Jamie Varner. His first defense was a rematch that everyone hoped would live up to the epicness of the first bout when he took on Donald Cerrone at the WEC's first and only foray into Pay Per View in April of this year. Unfortunately for the fans, the fight ended quickly with his signature guillotine choke. This choke netted Ben a $65k submission of the night bonus, so while the fans were robbed of another epic bout, Ben made up for it with a highlight reel choke.
Anthony Pettis has had a more tumultuous WEC career. While Ben Henderson gained notoriety against the top fighters in the division, "Showtime" has cut his teeth against the B List of the WEC lightweight division. He burst on the scene with a big win over Sityodtong product Mike Campbell (yes, the same Mike Campbell that recently defeated Yves Edwards at the Moosin Event), finishing the fight with a beautiful triangle choke. His next fight in the WEC was an absolute war against IFL standout Bart Palaszewski. The fight was a back and forth contest that saw Pettis lose a split decision. Pettis would bounce back against Danny Castillo when he finished the fight by knock out with a headkick followed by punches. This also was the bout he was training for when he made his appearance on World of Jenks. Having taken no damage in the Castillo bout, Showtime would fight a month later on the Aldo vs. Faber card against Ultimate Fighter Season 1 vet, Alex Karalexis. He was able to finish the fight with a triangle choke in the second round. Anthony would fight one more time, in a bout against Shane Roller at WEC 50: Cruz/Benavidez 2. He would cinch in a triangle choke to finish the Team Takedown member in the end of the third round.
I expect this to be a fantastic fight between two very dynamic fighters. The standup is all Pettis while the grappling will surely favor Henderson. What makes this bout exciting is that they are both proficient at their opponents strength and lanky enough to make this an extremely exciting match. I'm gonna say I expect Henderson to win, he's just been too well rounded and has fought better opposition in his WEC career. He's a boarder line top 10 Lightweight and I think this fight pushes him over the cusp into the top 10 rankings.
Tomorrow I'll post my thoughts on the other championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgenson.
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