Benson Henderson defeats Gilbert Melendez by Split Decision
by Ben Heather @benheather
On Saturday night Benson Henderson retained his UFC lightweight world championship with a split decision victory over Gilbert Melendez.
The first round started and it was Melendez who seemed to settle in to the fight better and it looked like the occasion of his UFC debut and finally fighting for the UFC title had not got to him. Henderson was coming out with the leg kicks but after the first couple Melendez caught one and threw him to the floor where a ground battle started. Henderson managed to get back up but not before Melendez landed a knee which was perfectly timed as Henderson got back to his feet. Again Henderson carried on with the kicks and although some landed Melendez did a good job defending them catching a couple more and again throwing Henderson to the floor with 30 seconds of the round remaining where he charged in with a knee to the body as Benson landed on the floor.
The Second round starts off much like the first to begin with Melendez has control of the fight beating Henderson to the punch. Henderson switches things up a bit and now starts throwing some knees to the body to try and stop having his kicks caught and this seems to have some reward. Most of this round is very even with some attacks by both men, but with 60 seconds left on the clock Benson starts to open up. In the centre of the octagon both start swinging and its Benson who lands a couple of big standing elbows and timing it perfectly. This for me was enough for him to take the round as it was so close before this.
Next we go to the third where the momentum of the end of round two is now firmly with Benson Henderson. He keeps working the leg kicks and early in the third lands one sweetly which takes Melendez clean off his feet. Not long after Henderson goes in for the first takedown of the fight and although Melendez does a pretty good job defending it, Henderson still manages to get him down. It doesn't stay on the ground for long and Melendez does a good job getting back to his feet. Again from here most of the round is very even with both taking and dishing out some good shots. Just before the buzzer Henderson lands another great leg kick and this time both men drop to the floor with Henderson scrambling on top of Melendez. From here the two exchange some good shots and the buzzer goes but the two don't stop until Big John pulls Henderson off Melendez. By this point I now score the fight 29-28 to Henderson.
Round four starts and both come out fairly defensively with it taking 30 seconds for the first real exchange to take place. Benson now tries to take the centre of the octagon and go after Melendez, the first real time he attempts to go for Gil is with a body shot but again like he has most of the fight Melendez does a good job defending it and catches the kick. A good scramble between the two happens just before the midway point of the round with Gilbert defending the take down very well and coming back with some good counter shots. With just under two minutes of the round left Benson goes back to the legs landing two side kicks to the thigh of Melendez which by now looks to have taken a lot of damage.
It looks like Melendez is starting to slow now and with 90 seconds left on the clock. Benson goes for another leg kick and times it perfectly just as Melendez attempts a kick of his own, this results in Benson sweeping Melendez's standing foot and taking him to the ground again where he jumps on his back but not for long as Gilbert gets straight back up again. I again scored this round to Henderson putting him up 3-1 and 39-37 on my scorecard.
The 5th round starts and its Melendez who is bossing the centre of the cage trying to trap Henderson on the outside where he starts swinging at every opportunity but is unable to trap Henderson. He is certainly doing all he can to track down Henderson but never really puts Henderson in a tricky position. He clearly did enough to take the round but for me it wasn't enough to win the belt as Benson Henderson retains his title.
Again, some people have been saying that this Benson Henderson win was controversial just like two of his last three fights but in my opinion I don't think it was. Yes it was very close but for people to come out and say it was controversial is a joke!! I can see how it could be scored both ways, that was because it was a close fight.... just because its a close fight if you don't like the decision it doesn't make it controversial.
I think overall on the night the right decision was made on Saturday night. I gave Melendez rounds 1 and 5 and gave Henderson 2, 3 and 4. The round which in my opinion decides the fight is round 2. The 1st and 5th were Gil's rounds and the 3rd and 4th Henderson did more work and won in my opinion. Leaving how you scored the second round as the decider and it was a very close round.
People should stop talking about Controversy and just enjoy the fight for what a was, a closely contested battle between two of the undisputed top lightweights in the world and I am sure down the line Melendez will get his rematch.
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