Sports

UFC Confirms Edgar Vs. Henderson Rematch

By Eric G.

Posted on March 6, 2012

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will be staying at 155, at least for one more fight. Frankie Edgar broke the news on Twitter that he has signed to fight Ben Henderson in a rematch of their UFC 144 bout. “Rematch anyone??…….it’s on!!”

An excited Edgar broke the news late on Tuesday night, later confirmed by the UFC president with a retweet.

“Rematch anyone??…….it’s on!! Thanks to @danawhite @lorenzofertitta. Me and Henderson 2. Here we go!!” – @FrankieEdgar

Dana White confirmed the news on Tuesday night. The news comes a little over a week that saw the UFC president try and pressure the former champion to move down a weight class and fight Jose Aldo. After going back and forth in media interviews as to who would fight next for the UFC lightweight title, White is giving fans the rematch most have been asking for.

“Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson rematch will be this summer” – @DanaWhite

This now makes the third time the championship has been defended in dual fights in the UFC lightweight division, going back to Edgar’s series against BJ Penn. I am no MMA historian but I am guessing that has to be a first in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

I am excited about the news. As I wrote in a lengthy blog on Monday, Edgar deserved the rematch. The calls for Frankie to move down in weight were baseless in my opinion. As I said Monday, Edgar has had several years of success at lightweight. Just because he loses one fight to a guy that looked bigger than him, doesn’t mean he is too small for the division. Ask Sean Sherk, Gray Maynard, and BJ Penn about having a size advantage over Edgar.

The championship fight now adds to the fantastic schedule of upcoming UFC championship fights. In addition to the lightweight title fight, Jon Jones will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Rashad Evans, Dominick Cruz defends his UFC title against Urijah Faber, Junior Dos Santos defends his UFC title against Alistair Overeem, and Chael Sonnen will challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. That is a very impressive docket of upcoming championship fights if you ask me.

Anthony Pettis will be the big loser in this equation. Pettis was in line to challenge the Henderson vs. Edgar winner after demolishing Joe Lauzon at UFC 144. Pettis will now have to wait. This is the second time Pettis’ promised title shot was put on hold since joining the UFC. I would guess that Pettis would have to fight again while waiting if Edgar and Henderson aren’t fighting until summer. Then again, Carlos Condit seems to content to wait Georges St-Pierre out until November.

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Eric G.

Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric's work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.