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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Three years ago today, World Extreme Cagefighting closed out their run with one of the best fights of the last several years between Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson. The fight included the now famous "Showtime Kick" in the fifth and final round, and was supposed to send Pettis into a Title fight that eluded him until he got a rematch with Henderson this August. Take a trip back to 2010 in this article published on Dec. 16, 2010, recapping Pettis' massive win over Henderson on the final WEC event.
The WEC has long been home to some of the most exciting fights and fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts, and on Thursday night the organization went out with a bang in the main event of WEC 53.
23 year old Anthony "Showtime" Pettis upended reigning Champion Ben Henderson by unanimous decision in one of the most exciting fights of 2010 to become the final WEC Lightweight Champion. With the win, Pettis will enter the UFC in 2011 in a fight for the UFC Lightweight Championship. He'll meet the winner of the title bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on New Year's Day.
The fight itself was a fantastic back and forth battle. Henderson started out well, winning a slightly tentative first round with a couple of takedowns. Pettis took the second with his striking and a submission attempt, but the fight really took off in the third round.
After a couple of early exchanges, Pettis pulled off a takedown of his own and quickly took Henderson's back. Henderson worked to his feet, but Pettis kept his position with a body triangle, and for the next three minutes he continued to threaten the choke while Henderson remained standing. He landed body punches and punches to the head from under Henderson's arm while his right wrist was controlled by the Champ, but threatened the submission when the arm was loose.
The fourth round was extremely even and extremely exciting as well. An early guillotine attempt from Pettis put him on his back, and as he tried to scramble Henderson took his back. He nearly finished the fight with a rear naked choke, but Pettis escaped, rolled over and wound up getting Henderson's back. When he couldn't lock on the submission himself, they worked back to their feet and traded kicks and punches for the rest of the round.
Then came the fifth round. Even heading in, Pettis began showcasing his superior striking skills in the round, landing a vicious flying knee early that rocked Henderson. Henderson wound up transitioning to a takedown and putting Pettis on his back, but after giving up his back, Pettis pulled off a beautiful spin to reverse and get into Henderson's guard and then stood back up. After lighting Henderson up with a couple of punches, the kick came.
With Henderson circling the cage, Pettis ran to the cage wall, leapt off his feet, spring-boarded off the cage and landed a kick to the face of Henderson that sent him to the ground. Somehow, Henderson was able to survive the incredible kick, and Pettis landed elbows and strikes on the ground as Henderson tried to hold onto a leg. As Henderson finally made his way to his feet, Pettis unleashed another flying knee as the round came to a close to seal the fight.
With scorecards of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46, Pettis was awarded the WEC Championship, becoming the final WEC Champion ever and earning his shot at the UFC Lightweight Champion.
Penick's Analysis: It may be the proximity to the fight, but that was my favorite fight of 2010. Pettis' spring-board kick, which shall forever be known as the "Showtime kick," was the single most incredible move I've seen pulled off in an MMA fight. It was straight out of a movie, and it was simply amazing. At 23 years old, Pettis enters the UFC as one of the most exciting fighters on the roster. Whether he deserves it or not, he's getting the next title shot, and the UFC isn't going to have any issue touting him as the challenger with the highlight of that move. Fights against either Edgar or Maynard will be an incredible test, but I think a bout with Edgar especially has the potential to be an amazing fight and a very special event.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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