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2. Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis
WEC 53 | Dec. 16, 2010

The last fight in WEC history was also very nearly its best. Henderson was the lightweight champion, boasting a 12-1 record overall and a 5-0 mark under the promotion’s banner. Standing across from Henderson as he made the second defense of his title was Milwaukee’s Pettis, who was 10-1 and who owned an arsenal of flashy kicks that suited his “Showtime” nickname. Both were young and exceptionally dynamic, and they were clearly fighters on the rise in a division that was just beginning to come into its own.

Henderson was the favorite at -200, and the hometown crowd at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz., was clearly behind him. The first round mostly went Henderson’s way, with a great deal of grinding against the cage, a few takedown attempts and little striking at range. Momentum shifted toward the challenger in the second, as Pettis clipped the champion with counters, took him down and landed a flying knee. It stayed with the challenger in the third. He took down Henderson a minute into the round, took his back in a scramble and forced the champion to wear him as a human backpack for the next four minutes.

The action swung back in Henderson’s direction in round four. He snagged top position in a series of scrambles, blasted “Showtime” with his trademark ground strikes, took Pettis’ back and stayed there until the challenger managed an insane reversal that put him on Henderson’s back once again. The fifth frame was essentially even going into the last 70 seconds, when Pettis backed Henderson into the cage with a blocked high kick. As Henderson circled off, Pettis ran toward the cage, jumped up, leaped off the cage and kicked the champion flush in the head.

At that moment “The Showtime Kick,” perhaps the single coolest move in the sport’s history, entered MMA lore and Pettis walked away with the WEC title shortly thereafter. The momentum swings in the fight were crazy, from Henderson to Pettis to Henderson and finally back to Pettis again, making it one of the most competitive fights MMA had seen up until the very end. It also showcased the dynamism of two of the promotion’s best finds, both of whom would go on to hold the UFC’s lightweight belt. The future became the present during that fight.

Number 1 » Henderson vs. Cerrone