Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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UFC 144 is in the book and we have ourselves a new lightweight champion of the world. It was a great night of mixed martial arts action capped off by a dominating performance in the main event.

Benson Henderson dominated Frankie Edgar over five rounds and twenty five minutes to become the new title holder in the 155 pound division.

Henderson was the bigger, stronger, more skilled fighter in every area and used great striking and phenomenal take down defense to take the belt from Edgar. Benson had an answer for everything Frankie tried to do. The scores were 49-46(twice) and 48-47 and I honestly would have had a hard time giving Edgar one round out of the five.

Frankie Edgar once again showed a ton of heart but he was clearly overmatched by Henderson. The turning point of the fight came at the end of the second round when Henderson landed the most beautiful up kick I have ever seen and it looked like it broke the nose of Edgar. For the three rounds after that, it was all Henderson.

Edgar is a guy known for not cutting a ton of weight and always appears smaller than his opponents. I would like to see him drop down to 145 and challenge Jose Aldo.

Next up for Henderson will be a rematch from an old WEC title fight.

Anthony Pettis cemented his claim as one of the best lightweights with an outstanding leg kick knockout of Joe Lauzon. I picked this as a fight of the year candidate but it only lasted eighty one seconds. Pettis landed a picture perfect strike that had Lauzon out before he hit the canvas.

With the win, Pettis will more than likely meet Benson Henderson for the second time. Last time they met, Henderson was the WEC title holder and Pettis won a five round decision to take the belt. Now, if they do meet, Pettis will be looking to claim the UFC lightweight crown from Henderson. Both guys are still getting better and it will be a true treat for fight fans everywhere. The first fight was awesome, I see no reason why the second one won’t be as exciting.

Full results:

•  Benson Henderson def. Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) - becomes new lightweight champion
• Ryan Bader def. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Hunt def. Cheick Kongo via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:11
• Jake Shields def. Yoshihiro Akiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 0:54
• Hatsu Hioki def. Bart Palaszewski via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Anthony Pettis def. Joe Lauzon via knockout (kick and punches) - Round 1, 1:21
• Takanori Gomi def. Eiji Mitsuoka via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 2:21
• Vaughan Lee def. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 4:29
• Riki Fukuda def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Chris Cariaso def. Takeya Mizugaki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
• Issei Tamura def. Tiequan Zhang via knockout (punch) - Round 2, 0:32

This card was the first UFC event in Japan since 2000. There was a ton of action and the fans were great. Congratulations to Benson Henderson for putting on a great display and showing the world what a true mixed martial artist can do.