Henderson edges past Melendez

Benson Henderson defended his UFC lightweight championship with a split decision victory over Gilbert Melendez.

Melendez comes up short in UFC debut

Gilbert Melendez has cast a shadow over the UFC lightweight title for years but he came up short in a split decision loss to Benson Henderson at UFC on Fox 7. The San Jose, California event was the UFC's overall most thrilling card of 2013 so far and culminated with Henderson's fourth successful title fight. A thrilling five-round brawl saw "Smooth" finally put to bed any doubts about whether he is the world's best 155-pound fighter amid Melendez's absence from the organisation. Debutant Melendez, favoured heavily by his home state crowd, took the first round with precise striking before Henderson responded in lethal fashion. His trademark kicks saw him edge the third and fourth rounds in most minds as the fight veered from a technical battle into a scrap, almost spilling beyond the bell of the third period. The second round is where most doubt lays, with the judges eventually plumping for Henderson in a back-and-forth five minutes. Melendez seemingly took the last round and both men clearly believed they had done enough to have their hand raised. Henderson celebrated with a second success of the evening - a proposition to his girlfriend - ending a memorable event.

Impact

In the co main-event, fellow debutant Daniel Cormier made an impact in the heavyweight division with a wrestling-based decision over respected veteran Frank Mir. Josh Thomson announced his entry to the competitive lightweight division with a TKO victory over Nate Diaz - landing a stunning head kick which began Diaz's demise. In the welterweight division, veteran Matt Brown won his fifth consecutive fight via TKO by overwhelming promising Jordan Mein in a frenetically paced bout.
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