Preview: UFC 164 Main Card
by Dr. Octagon, J.D.
Benson Henderson vs Anthony Pettis: Big rematch of one of the greatest WEC fights of all time. It will be interesting to see how this Pay Per View card sells, because Benson Henderson (left) has been a pretty terrible draw compared to some of the other champs. The reason is probably a combination of his penchant for not finishing fights, along with his general lack of charisma.
Henderson is sort of a weird dude. He has big angel wings tattooed on his back, and may or may not be fighting with a toothpick in his mouth. He also aggressively name checks his lord and savior Jesus Christ every five seconds, which is sure to turn off the more secular fans. Henderson has been referring to the loss to Pettis as a “stain on his soul”.
That being said, Henderson has an interesting life story, having been brought up by his Korean mother after his father abandoned the family. He went completely straight edge to avoid the mistakes of his father. I like the guy, but I don’t love his fighting style. He’s very crafty about winning rounds and close fights, but he lacks a sense of urgency in a sport with terrible judging, so he’s been content to leave it in the hands of the judges way too many times.
The judges, for their part, have given him some victories in cases where many had him losing. I was certain he lost the second fight to Frankie Edgar and many think that Gilbert Melendez beat him too (though I wasn’t among them).
Anthony Pettis is an ultra-precise striker that’s deadly from distance, with a ton of highlight reel kicks on his resume. He has a clear advantage on the feet and will try to keep it there against the powerful Henderson. Pettis is also going to be fighting on his home turf, so don’t be surprised if a close decision to go his way. [[MORE]]
Benson’s main advantage is that he’s way bigger than Pettis. He’s bigger than just about everyone in the lightweight division, but Pettis was actually thinking about going down a weight class to face Jose Aldo and the cut wouldn’t have been a hard one for him. Pettis has had trouble with wrestlers that are much less of a threat than Benson, like Clay Guida for example. If Benson is smart, he’ll try to stay on top of Pettis for the whole fight.
If Henderson tries to stand and bang, he might get blown out. Benson is generally very good about sticking to a game plan, so I think the key to the fight will be for Pettis to avoid his takedowns.
Frank Mir vs. Josh Barnett: Two of the greatest heavyweight submission experts of all time face off in this bout. Barnett is favored by most, but I’m giving the advantage to Frank Mir.
Barnett looks very much like the deflated steroid abuser that he is, whereas Mir had never been caught and therefore has the benefit of a Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) exemption. It would be great to have an event where we didn’t have to delve into the hormone levels of the athletes, but if you don’t recognize the immense benefit that TRT has provided to certain athletes, you’re not seeing the whole picture.
So for once, everyone is hoping this fight goes to the ground. Any true mixed martial arts fan would love to see what would happen in a high level catch wrestling versus BJJ matchup. Barnett is really good at staying on top once he’s there and Mir is really good at breaking the arms of people that are on top of him. In my view, Frank Mir has the advantage in the striking and may be able to keep it on the feet. Although Barnett outweighs Mir, Mir has more useful mass on his physique if you know what I mean. Should be an interesting fight.
Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida: Clay Guida is pesky. Hopefully he’ll engage this time. He’s been known in the past to spend the entire fight backpedaling when severely outmatched (see the Gray Maynard fight). Mendes is better than Guida in every aspect of the game and should win easily, but Guida is relentless and seems to throw everyone off with his insane levels of movement and cardio.
Ben Rothwell vs. Brandon Vera: Can we talk about hormones again briefly? Ben Rothwell, who looks like the oldest 31-year-old on the planet, has been granted a TRT exemption. He looks a little bit more fit than he has in the past, but appeared to be shaking in his faceoff with Brandon Vera.
Vera, who most recently fought Shogun Rua at light heavyweight, has packed on the pounds to get up to 241 lbs. Rothwell looked absolutely terrible in his previous fights, excepting his KO of Brendan Schaub. Vera is the better fighter, but he’s old and basically a blown-up light heavyweight. Vera will be quicker and more technical than Rothwell, but if he stands in front of the bigger man for too long, Vera might get knocked out.
Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier: Two bald white dudes fighting in this one. Luckily, they’ll be wearing different colored shorts. Both men are coming off losses, but neither has lost to anything less than top-level competition recently. Erik Koch is a bit of a favorite at the moment, but this should be a close fight. If I was betting on this fight, I’d go with Dustin Poirier just because it should be pretty even and Poirier is a bit of an underdog.