Round 1:
This was a typical Ben Henderson winning round, in that it was very close. There was a lot of feeling out, feints and blocked kicks in the opening couple of minutes. Both men moved forward and back, and both threw first, drawing even in the control for the first minute before Pettis took the initiative and was more aggressive in the second minute. He was more aggressive, but not more effective. Finally in the third minute Henderson came forward with a punching combination that scored and initiated a clinch where he landed some knees to the legs and body. From that clinch Henderson scored a takedown and landed some sparse ground and pound, while maintaining top control until Pettis was able to push off and stand up with 1:20 left in the round. Both men landed some strikes before Henderson shot hard on a double-leg and eventually found the TD against the cage with :15 left. He held the control for the remainder of the round and landed a few shots, finishing the round with Pettis on his back.
Round 2:
The second round started much different than the first. Pettis came out very aggressive and started throwing punches and kicks. He intitiated the exchanges and with a punch and knockdown had Henderson scrambling for a TD inside of :45. After taking loose back control, Pettis allowed Henderson to stand and tried to land a head kick on the way up. Henderson started working for a standing Kimura against the cage, but Pettis turned that into a TD, before trying a kimura of his own that allowed Henderson to stand, again. Henderson shot a single, which led to a clinch on the cage and Henderson landing some shots to the legs and body. They separated and met in the middle. From there Pettis kept on the attack with strikes and defended Henderson's TD attempts. Henderson was able to clinch against the cage and land some more shots to the body and legs, but with two minutes left Pettis was again moving forward and landing strikes. Interesting to note that with 1:27 left in the round Henderson tries to do a Superman punch off of the cage.
Round 3:
Pettis started the third the same way he ended the second, moving forward, throwing kicks and punches, and backing Henderson up. A minute in Henderson landed a strong right , then shortly after they sort of collided in the middle of the cage. Henderson tried to throw a knee and Pettis used that to take him down into half-guard. He quickly stepped out and around to take the back of Henderson at the 1:15 mark, and held that dominant position for most of the remainder of the round (they broke with just enough time for Pettis to shout something Henderson's way before the bell). Pettis made consistant attempts to both sink in a choke or, alternatively, strike to the body and head. Henderson, for his part, defended the choke very well, but could not scrape, shake or slip Pettis off his back. He worked from laying down to his knees, to standing, to his knees, before ending the round standing, with Pettis letting go and facing off. I scored the round 10-8 for Pettis because he was dominant in all areas of the fight. He landed effective strikes to the legs, body and head. He controlled the pace and place of the fight for the entire five minutes. He also threatened with submission attempts. Henderson landed one effective punch standing and some marginal elbows while in the back-mount.
Round 4:
Henderson came out very strong in the fourth, and managed to get Pettis backing up early and landing some punches and especially kicks to the body. This would prove key in the round as Henderson won based on slightly edging Pettis in each of the different scoring criteria. A minute in Henderson came forward with a combination that finished with a hard right kick to the body that Pettis caught. When Henderson pulled his leg out he dropped for a single and Pettis jumped on a guillotine choke attempt that Henderson immidiatly escaped from. At that point Pettis was on his back and Henderson was standing and in control. Pettis attepted to push off and roll backwards out but Henderson kept the pressure on and held top position through several weak submission attempts and attempts to roll out from Pettis. Henderson toook the back mount and then body triangle as he came close on a couple rear-naked-choke tries that Pettis defended. After a little more than a minute, Pettis spun out and into Henderson's guard and briefly took his back before Henderson stood and got to the cage where they separated. With a little more than a minute and a half left they went back to trading strikes. Henderson was moving back more, but countering better than in the first three rounds. With a minute left and facing fire from Pettis, Henderson shot for a single and again Pettis jumped on a guillotine attempt, but again Henderson ended up in a dominant position. They finished the round with Pettis holding on and Henderson on top.
Round 5:
This was the deciding round for a lot of people's scores. All of the judges had it at two rounds apiece, including colour man Stephan Bonnar. I too had it two rounds apiece but with the 10-8 R3 for Pettis I still had him ahead. Pettis came out in the fifth again moving forward and proving himself the more active and accurate striker. He was able to counter Henderson's kicks with hard leg kicks and punches to the face, as well as intitiate exchanges with fast punching combinations. He didn't put Henderson in a lot of trouble but he was pulling ahead. At one point Henderson slipped on a kick and Pettis pressed hard, forcing Henderson to scramble for a TD and eventually, briefly, have his back taken. Pettis was smart to abandon the position when it looked like Henderson as going to shake him off. A little before the halfway mark in the round Henderson shot a TD from outside and Pettis met him with a knee to the face. It's not clear how hard it hit Henderson but it did allow Pettis to avoid the TD and land some strikes during the attempt. Henderson persisted though and with more than two minutes left he put Pettis on his back. While in Pettis' guard Henderson was not able to land punches or attack. Henderson did advance to back control off an escape attempt by Pettis, but almost immediately after sinking his hooks in Pettis reversed the position, landed a couple of punches and stood up. He walked away and left Henderson sitting crosslegged. They threw a few punches and then we got into the Showtime Kick and it's setup. Pettis threw a high kick that Henderson blocked, but caused him to bounce of the cage with his back. Henderson put his foot on the cage like he wanted to try the off-the-cage Superman punch again but Pettis backed off and moved to his right, forcing Henderson to move to his own right as well, along the cage. As soon as Henderson started moving parallel to the cage Pettis ran at the cage instead of Henderson. He sprung off his left foot and planted his right on the cage more than a metre up. Henderson was trying to shuffle back and to the side and thought he was out of range, so he dropped his hands, at which point Pettis was able to catch up to him and land with the right foot to the jaw. Pettis wasted no time trying to get in and finish but Henderson did a very good job trying to tie him up and defend. Pettis moved to a type of crucifix and tried to land but could not put him away in the last twenty seconds. I gave Pettis this round as a 10-8 as well because of two things: 1) He was dominant in the majority of the areas for the majority of the time, 2) He nearly finished Henderson with a spectacular and innovative maneuver.
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