10 Lessons Learned From UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Dos Anjos

Benson Henderson is human after all.

UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Dos Anjos We made a couple of absolutely huge discoveries Saturday night - not the least of which is that Benson Henderson is human! The main event of UFC Fight Night 49 - Benson Henderson vs. Rafael dos Anjos - was a fight that fans and media pundits (including WhatCulture) began calling for after Henderson's last outing against Rustam Khabilov. Thing is, most of us assumed that this would be another solid win for Benson Henderon. Rafael dos Anjos is a great fighter without question, but no one really expected him to upset Henderson, a man who hadn't lost to anyone not named Anthony Pettis in years. The going logic was that Henderson would beat Dos Anjos, lock horns with maybe one more contender between now and the December bout champ Pettis has with Gilbert Melendez, and then fight for the title in early 2015. It appears that dos Anjos, however, wasn't told about the going logic - or didn't care about it. Starting strong, the two fighters went straight to work, and within the first minute had exchanged several blows. Watching the bout, it seemed a little different from most Henderson bouts - he was facing an opponent who easily matched his pace. Whether that would have continued we'll never know, because just over two and a half minutes into the fight, dos Anjos connected with a knee, then caught Henderson with a punch. Henderson went down in a heap, his legs going out from under him, and ref Big John McCarthy moved in to wave off the fight. There was (and will continue to be) protest that it was an early stoppage, but it doesn't matter - dos Anjos still gets the win, still pulls off the upset, and throws the lightweight division on its head. In the co-main event, Jordan Mein had a lot to prove - and prove it he did in what was arguably the biggest fight of his career. Here are the results from UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos: Main Card: LW Rafael dos Anjos defeated Benson Henderson via KO (punch) (Round 1 - 2:31) WW Jordan Mein defeated Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) (Round 1 - 1:12) MW Thales Leites defeated Francis Carmont via KO (punches) (Round 2 - 0:20) CW (149 lbs) Max Holloway defeated Clay Collard via TKO (punches) (Round 3 - 3:47) LW James Vick defeated Valmir Lazaro via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) FW Chas Skelly defeated Tom Niinimäki via submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 1 - 2:35) Preliminary Card: WW Neil Magny defeated Alex Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) LW Beneil Dariush defeated Tony Martin via submission (arm-triangle choke) (Round 2 - 3:38) BW Matt Hobar defeated Aaron Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) WW Ben Saunders defeated Chris Heatherly via submission (omoplata) (Round 1 - 2:18) Fight Pass Prelims: FLW Wilson Reis defeated Joby Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Now lets take a look at ten lessons learned from UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos!
 
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Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.