Sherdog’s Top 10: Five-Round Fights

6. Anthony Pettis vs. Benson Henderson
WEC 53
Dec. 16, 2010 | Glendale, Ariz.
The final fight on the final card in World Extreme Cagefighting history lived up to the brilliant reputation that the blue cage earned time after time after time in its nine years of operation. Pettis was the up-and-comer, an athletic marvel with a predilection for head kicks and triangle chokes, one of the new breed of fighters who combined tremendous physical gifts with top-notch technique. Henderson, the WEC lightweight champion, showed no less promise. The former collegiate wrestler and taekwondo black belt had fantastic athleticism and dynamism in his own right, and the winner would be positioned for a shot at the big prize: the UFC lightweight title.

Stardom beckoned, and Pettis and Henderson did nothing to indicate that they were unfit for the mantle. The first round was relatively slow, with Pettis stalking and landing the harder shots while Henderson forced the challenger to the cage for long periods and managed to work a couple of takedowns. The second was better for Pettis, as he cracked the champion with a nice series of counter right hands and sharp low kicks along with a flying knee. The third once again belonged to the challenger, as he hit a nice trip from the clinch and scrambled to Henderson’s back, where he remained for almost the entirety of the round.

Momentum swung back in Henderson’s direction in the fourth round. Rather than letting Pettis push him backward, he came out firing with punch-kick combinations, scrambled out of a guillotine attempt and landed on top, where he avoided the challenger’s submission attempts, landed hard shots and eventually got to the back. Pettis reversed and briefly got Henderson’s back, but “Smooth” stormed back and hit a takedown of his own to seal the round. Clearly tied 2-2, the fifth opened in the same back-and-forth fashion, with Pettis landing sharp counters and Henderson trying for takedowns and dropping his own combinations. The fight was effectively even with 70 seconds left to go, when Pettis went high with a kick that forced Henderson back toward the fence. As Henderson backed away, Pettis ran toward the fence, jumped off and kicked the champion in the head mid-air. Henderson dropped but managed to survive to the final bell to lose a close but clear decision.

While not the quickest-paced fight, few five-round bouts have ever matched Pettis-Henderson in terms of momentum shifts, action and such a wide variety of technical skill. It was a fitting way for the WEC to go out.

Number 5 » Alvarez vs. Chandler