Henderson outlasts Franklin in UFC 93 main event

Dan Henderson used his superior power punching and wrestling ability to defeat Rich Franklin by split decision in the main event of UFC 93 before an enthusiastic sellout crowd at the O2 Arena in Dublin Ireland on Saturday.  With the victory the former PRIDE middleweight and welterweight champ earned the right to be the coach of Team USA in Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter”.  The forthcoming installment of the UFC reality show will pit Henderson’s Team USA against a team of UK fighters coached by Michael Bisping.  As has become the custom, Henderson will then face Bisping in the octagon at the conclusion of the series.  While today’s fight against Franklin was contested at 205 pounds, the fight against Bisping will be at welterweight.

The conventional wisdom suggested that if Franklin could survive the first round against the naturally larger Henderson that he’d have the opportunity to dictate the pace in the second half of the bout.  It almost played out that way, with Franklin’s cardio condition definitely proven superior as the fight progressed.  Unfortunately for Franklin, however, Henderson didn’t leave him much of a “window of opportunity” as the California native and Team Quest representative clearly won the first two rounds (at least on the cards of two of the three judges at cageside).  This left Franklin needing a knockout to win against an opponent that had never been knocked out. 

In the first and second rounds, Henderson used his more powerful punching to negate Franklin’s work in the clinch and better tactical standup skills.  He did his best work on the ground, and repeatedly took Franklin to the canvas where he was essentially content to control his opponent.  Henderson really never had Franklin in danger of a knockout or submission, but as he dictated the tempo and style of the first two rounds while keeping his opponent on the defensive he clearly had the advantage.  Henderson did open a nasty cut on Franklin’s forehead due to an accidental butt near the end of the first round, but it never really caused much trouble thanks to some solid repair work by cutman extraordinaire Jacob “Stitch” Duran.

Franklin’s best moments came in the third round where he started to gain some momentum with his sharp jab and effective leg kicks.  Unfortunately it was too little too late and Henderson did much to kill his momentum midway through the frame via another emphatic takedown.  Franklin managed to extricate himself and started to re-establish his tempo only to suffer an inadvertent poke in the eye as the bout entered its final minute.  He managed to recover, but by that point was starting to feel fatigued and Henderson was able to avoid danger until the final horn.

The fight appeared to be a fairly cut and dried case of Henderson winning rounds one and two, with Franklin getting the edge in the third.  Two of the three judges at cageside—as well as our own unofficial SAVSCI scorecard—reflected this with 29-28 scores.  One judge, however, curiously scored the contest 30-27 in favor of Franklin which even the classy Henderson questioned in his postfight interview.

Henderson has now won two straight fights following back-to-back losses to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva.  He’s somewhat “long in the tooth” at age 38, but his fighting style and cerebral approach to his craft are similar in many ways to Randy Couture which suggests the likelihood that Henderson will “age well” as a fighter.