The UFC 129: "St. Pierre vs. Shields" main card kicked off with a solid clash of styles between former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson and rising 155-pound contender Mark Bocek.
Henderson was out to prove he's much more than just "the guy that got kicked in the face by Anthony Pettis."
He did just that.
However, Bocek showed exactly how tough the going gets when you're swimming with the sharks in the UFC, No matter how hard "Bendo" came after him, the red-headed beast just came back for more.
By the time it was over, the judges had one hell of a decision to make. After three rounds of back and forth action, they awarded the victory to Henderson by way of 30-27 scores on all cards.
It was a "Smooth" transition into the UFC.
Bocek was game, fighting through multiple barrages of punches in order to work for takedowns to implement his gameplan, which was clearly to work toward a submission.
But the nickname "Bendo" proved fitting, once again, as Henderson escaped every attempt. In fact, each time Bocek tried to slap on a choke hold, it just served to piss his opponent off.
It's a tough loss for the surging lightweight, who was right on the brink of breaking into the upper echelon of the division.
Back to the drawing board.
Henderson, though, showed exactly what the little fellas from the WEC have to offer -- one hell of a fight.
Anybody got a good next opponent for him?
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