UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson Live Results

The time has finally arrived, UFC 144: Japan marks the return of the UFC to the land of the rising sun. Bringing with them is a five bout preliminary card and a stacked seven deep main card airing on pay per view. The night will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between the champ Frankie Edgar against the former WEC champ, Benson Henderson.

Follow all the night’s action right here for complete results and fight by fight analysis.

Preliminary card (Facebook)

145 lbs.: Issei Tamura defeated Zhang Tiequan by 2nd rd. KO

Preliminary card (FX)

135 lbs.: Chris Cariaso defeated Takeya Mizugaki by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• A close fight standing up with Cariaso possibly getting the slight better but Mizugaki scored a takedown in every round, keeping Cariaso on his back for long stretches of the those rounds. When the jugdes scores were read all thought Mizugaki would be getting the unanimous decision but they say it a different way.

185 lbs.: Riki Fukuda defeated Steve Cantwell by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

• If only the whole fight was like the opening round. Well that wasn’t the case because after a back and forth first round Cantwell began to quickly gas out. By the time the final round had arrived Cantwell was just a punching bag for Fukuda, who just tee’d off the whole round.

135 lbs.: Vaughan Lee defeated Norifumi Yamamoto by 1st rd. Submission (Armbar)

• Yamamoto hurt Lee early and had him against the cage but was unable to finish him off. Lee returned the favor by stunning Yamamoto, who took Lee down in hopes to recover. Lee didn’t allow that and he became the first fighter to submit the kid.

155 lbs.: Takanori Gomi defeated Eiji Mitsuoka by 2nd rd. TKO

• The fight was nearly over in the first round when Mitsuoka hurt Gomi with a right hand and looked to submit the “fireball kid” as the round came to an end. Gomi would come out in round two a different fighter and Mitsuoka was in trouble right away. Gomi poured it on, Mitsuoka went to the canvas after being hurt with a knee and that’s where Gomi finished the fight.

Main card (PPV)

155 lbs.: Anthony Pettis defeated Joe Lauzon by 1st rd. KO

• Pettis came out throwing kicks high and low and when Lauzon thought the kick was going low and it went high, the lights went out on Lauzon.

145 lbs.: Hatsu Hioki defeated Bart Palaszewski by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

• Palaszewski wanted Hioki and things didn’t go the way he wanted it too. Hioki had his way when the fight hit the canvas, which he did on three seperate occasions. Hioki also showed he could hang with the stand up of Palazewski but it was on the ground that won the fight for him.

185 lbs.: Tim Boetsch defeated Yushin Okami by 3rd rd. TKO

• This fight is best described with a simple yet loud WOW! Okami could do no wrong in rounds one and two, cutting Boetsch and dominating the first 10 minutes. Boetsch knew he needed a KO and in round three went for broke and it worked to perfection. Boetsch hurt Okami and landed several unanswered uppercuts that would finally dropped Okami and end the fight. A great comeback by Boetsch.

170 lbs.: Jake Shields defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Tough fight to score as Shields was the aggressor and attempting several failed takedowns, while Akiyama got a couple takedowns in the first two rounds. Shields clearly took the third round by finally getting the fight to the ground and fishing for a submission until the bell rang. The fight was closer than the judges scored though.

265 lbs.: Mark Hunt defeated Cheick Kongo by 1st rd. TKO

• Kongo stood with Hunt instead of attempting to take him down and well that backfired. Hunt rocked Kongo with a short left hand and let him stand back up long enough to drop him again. A little clean up work from hunt and the referee steps in and ends the fight.

205 lbs.: Ryan Bader defeated Quinton Jackson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Rampage Jackson returned to Japan but other than a big slam, he could return to the previous form he showed in his PRIDE days. He came into the fight heavy and he didn’t look right in there and Bader took advantage. Even after being slammed on his head, Bader quickly recovered and dominated the rest of that round. Rampage was pretty much out of gas in the final round and Bader took him down and cruised to the decision win.

Main Event:

155 lbs.: Ben Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46)

• A back and forth fight for twenty five minutes that was extremely close, much closer than the judges had it. Edgar looked the part of a beaten, defeated fighter but he’s looked that way before and pulled out the win. The fight turned with a brutal up kick from Henderson that busted up the nose of the champion. Henderson held the center of the octagon and when taken down he got right back up. The striking numbers were close to even, the takedowns were slightly in favor of the champ but the damage was all the challenger.

Tags: Anthony Pettis, Bart Palaszewski, Ben Henderson, Cheick Kongo, Chris Cariaso, Eiji Mitsuoka, Frankie Edgar, Hatsu Hioki, Issei Tamura, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, Mark Hunt, Mixed Martial Arts, MMA, Norifumi Yamamoto, Quinton Jackson, Results, Riki Fukuda, Ryan Bader, Steve Cantwell, Takanori Gomi, Takeya Mizugaki, Tim Boetsch, UFC, UFC 144, UFC 144 Results, UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson, Vaughan Lee, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Yushin Okami, Zhang Tiequan

Category: Featured, MMA, News, Results, UFC