Score: 8.8/4.2
The 8.8 is for the quality of the fight, which was exhilarating throughout, and featured a smorgasbord of styles that bled seamlessly from one to another. This fight is why I love watching the WEC. Cerrone is a great showman, and in my opinion, one of the better 155 lb-ers in North America in terms of natural ability and certain techniques. The fight, was a joy to watch.
The result (see 4.2), was unfair. Cerrone won the fight. I know, given the 10-point must system, that fights like these are difficult to score. But let's be honest, Henderson did not beat Cerrone. Ok, yes, in rounds 2 and 3, he took the fight to the ground, in a seemingly commanding way. But was he? What damage did he do with Cerrone on his back? He probably spent six of those ten minutes standing up, occasionally landing solid shots to the head, but more often struggling to get through Cerrone's legs. Yes, for those two rounds (and at various points through the fight), he out-wrestled Cerrone. But this was not George St. Pierre calibre of out-wrestling. Upon taking his opponent to the floor, Henderson was almost in more danger than Cerrone. If not for a freakish level of flexibility in his arms, he should have tapped at least once in the final round. Yes, Cerrone was on his back, for two rounds, but as evidenced by the many times he kicked Henderson off without much trouble, it was Cerrone who had control over where the fight went, and when.
The judges patently blew this one though. I don't know which round (out of the first and fourth), they gave to Henderson over Cerrone, and I suppose it doesn't matter, because in all reality, they just missed it. Not that this wasn't a close fight in many regards, but in looking at each round, and when considering the fight as a whole, Cerrone was the overall better fighter. Not all the time (again, this is not St. Pierre we're talking about, or Machida), but enough to win the judges scorecards. Or at least mine.
I may make another post about how the ten point system could be altered to make for both more engaging, and better-scored fights, but that can likely wait for another time.
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