The record books will always show Ben Henderson defeated Josh Thomson via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) in the main event of tonight's (Sat., Jan. 25, 2014) UFC on Fox 10: "Henderson vs. Thomson" network television broadcast from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The Fight Metric report, however, disputes that.
Let's take a look at the cold, hard statistics, shall we?
First, the striking report:
Henderson was unquestionably the more active of the two fighters, though that likely had a lot to do with the fact that Thomson broke his thumb early in the contest. It's hard to throw punches when you can't even fully make a fist.
Still, "Smooth" was the man in this category.
Next, the grappling report:
While Henderson was successful on each of his takedown attempts, Thomson had four passes, including three to "Bendo's" back. This one is harder to quantify on paper because it ignores the control "Punk" exhibited while he had the former champion locked in a body triangle.
Finally, the performance report:
It should be noted that Fight Metric scored rounds 1, 2, and 4 for Thomson, round 3 for Henderson, and round 5 a draw. Henderson eked out a higher effectiveness score but under their methodology, there should not have been a winner, but under the 10-point must system Thomson should have taken the decision.
Agree or disagree?
For everything you need on "Henderson vs. Thomson" click here, and for complete UFC on Fox 10 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.