Henderson edges Edgar, retains title at UFC 150

DENVER - Ten hard-fought rounds between Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar this year haven't revealed much difference between the two best lightweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Henderson, however, has emerged with two victories and the belt.

Having won the title from Edgar by unanimous decision in February, Henderson retained it Saturday by winning the rematch by split decision in the main event of UFC 150 at Pepsi Center.

Henderson won 48-47 on two scorecards, but Edgar won four of five rounds on the other card for a 49-46 score. Both judges who gave the fight to Henderson had him winning rounds one, three and four. The third judge had Edgar winning rounds two through five. All three judges agreed Henderson won the first round, Edgar the second and fifth.

"I thought I was ahead going to the last round. At worst, maybe it was even and I had to win the last round," Henderson said. "As close as our fight was, I just knew I had to get after that last round."

Henderson established the leg kick to the back of Edgar's lead leg early in the fight and actually dropped him with the maneuver twice, but Edgar started to time it as the fight went on and caught several of Henderson's kicks.

Henderson also bloodied Edgar in the second round, though Edgar quickly responded with a big right that knocked the champion down against the cage.

The Review-Journal scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Edgar, with the former champion taking the second, fourth and fifth rounds. The crowd booed loudly in disapproval as the judges' scores were read.

"It doesn't matter what I think at this point. I could be pissed off, but the decision isn't going to change. It is what it is," Edgar said. "I think I did everything good enough. I felt I brought the fight to him, but here we are."

Colorado native Donald Cerrone won for the eighth time in his last nine fights with a first-round knockout of friend and training partner Melvin Guillard in what was officially a catch-weight bout after Guillard missed the lightweight limit by 1½ pounds.

Guillard rocked Cerrone with several shots in the opening seconds, but Cerrone dazed Guillard with a left kick that grazed the top of his head. Cerrone saw Guillard take a couple of wobbly steps and charged in with a right hand that ended the fight after 1:16.

"When I got clipped right away in the first, I was just thinking, 'Oh (expletive), I better figure this out pretty quick here,' " Cerrone said.

Jake Shields returned to middleweight and earned a unanimous decision over Ed Herman in a fight that featured little action and drew a steady stream of boos.

Shields got top control in all three rounds, and Herman never mounted any kind of attack with his back mostly pinned to the mat.

Another middleweight, Yushin Okami, proved far too strong for late replacement Buddy Roberts. Okami mounted Roberts' back in the first two rounds and pummelled him on the ground. Roberts was saved by the bell in the first round, but had no such luck in the second. The referee stepped in when it appeared Roberts had no chance of improving his position.

Featherweight Max Holloway, 20, got his second UFC victory with a second-round knockout of Justin Lawrence.

Another youngster, 22-year-old Erik Perez, highlighted the undercard with a 17-second knockout of Ken Stone for his seventh straight win, two in the UFC.

Middleweight Michael Kuiper badly injured Jared Hamman with a leg kick in the first round and then teed off on the wobbly Hamman until finally knocking him out midway through the second. Nik Lentz made his featherweight debut with a first-round knockout of Eiji Mitsuoka.

Fellow featherweight Dennis Bermudez submitted Tommy Hayden with a standing guillotine in the first round.

Also, Chico Camus made a successful UFC debut with a decision over bantamweight Dustin Pague.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.