Five Round Frankie

Frankie Edgar vs Benson Henderson Fight Recap

It seems like Frankie Edgar has been in his fair share of 5 round judging scandals and has been on both sides of the wrong decision.  To start this story off we have to take a trip back to when he first fought BJ Penn for the light weight title.  This was a back and forth affair, that saw BJ Penn landing good counters, against the quick footed Frankie.  BJ came on strong as usually and it looked like he took the first 3 rounds and then started fading.  The quicker fighter Frankie seemed to do enough to take the 4^th and 5^th rounds.  Three rounds to two seems like a pretty solid win for BJ right.  Wrong, the judges ended up giving Edgar the nod. 

Then the re-match comes, Frankie out worked BJ Penn the majority of the fight.  This time the judges got it right.  They gave the rightful winner Frankie Edgar the decision victory.  By this time Frankie Edgar had won me over as a fan.  His constant working, constant movement and his well time counters always make for an exciting fight.

Now his second title defense, which should have been his first if the judges would of got it right, is against Gray Maynard.  Gray Maynard gave Edgar his first taste of defeat earlier in his career.  First round starts, Gray catches Frankie with a big right hand.  He nearly puts away Edgar several times during the first round so let’s call it a 10-8 round.  Then here comes Frankie in the second round, he out works Maynard with his trademark quick feet and multidimensional attack.  The third is closer contested than the 2^nd and could have gone either way.  Then the fourth comes, Gray lands some big shots and easily secures the round.  The fifth is much like the second, with Frankie showing why he is one of the greatest light weights on the planet. He lands good stiff counters and even scores a takedown.  I could see how some judges could score this a draw, but one judge gave it to Edgar and I can’t see it.  It should have gone to Gray Maynard.

Now comes the most recent, five round Frankie Fiasco and by the way this isn’t trademarked yet.  The first fight with Benson Henderson was much like Frankie's first fight vs BJ.  They scored the decision right this time, but in most fans eyes this was controversial.

I just watched the rematch and it is still fresh in my mind.  Round one Benson shows total control over Frankie.  By landing good solid leg kicks he sweeps Frankie's front leg out from under him several times.  Round two is a much different story, Frankie scores with a big right hand sending Bendo to the canvas, giving him the second round.  The third round could have went either way, so we have 1 round a piece and 1 round a toss up.  The fourth round was Frankie's, from the take down to the stiff counters he kept landing on the slowing Benson.  Here comes the fifth and final round, Frankie is scoring with big shots the majority of the duration. He is controlling the pace and landing more strikes.  Then in desperation Benson starts to turn it on, but I think its too little too late.  

The round ends, both fighters are raising their hands.  The decision comes 49/46 Edgar, 48/47 Henderson, and finally 48/47 and…still UFC Light Weight Champion of the World.  Wait a minute, Benson Henderson won.

So the curse of Five Round Frankie lives on and who will be its next victim.