Anthony Pettis brought the WEC promotion to an end in style on Thursday night, using one of the most incredible kicks in the history of the sport to seal the victory against Ben Henderson at WEC 53.The kick all but defies description: Pettis jumped into the air, pushed off the fence with his foot and landed an incredible head kick at the end of the fifth round, putting an emphatic ending on his unanimous decision victory. The kick looked like something out of a martial arts movie, but Pettis said it's something he and his coach have been working on.
"Duke Roufus, we practice that all the time," Pettis said. "I've got 10 more of those kicks coming when I'm in the UFC. How do you like that to end the WEC?"
The fight started well for Henderson, who backed Pettis up to the cage with a great combination in the first round, then held Pettis against the cage and eventually took him down. It looked like Henderson would dominate the round from there, but Pettis attempted an arm bar from the bottom, and when Henderson pulled free, it gave Pettis an opening to get back to his feet, where he started to look more comfortable and began to land some strikes late in the round.
In the second round, Pettis went on the attack, hurting Henderson with a leg kick and a punch standing up and then threatening him on the ground. Once Henderson recovered it was a lot of back-and-forth without much damage being done.
The third round was a strange one: Pettis shot in for an early takedown and then got Henderson's back on the ground, and he then proceeded to spend most of the third round on Henderson's back, with Henderson standing up. Pettis was never able to come close to sinking in the rear-naked choke that he wanted, but he definitely had to win the third round based solely on the positional advantage he held throughout.
In the fourth there was a wild scramble on the ground that ended up with Henderson having Pettis's back and attempting a rear-naked choke, and it appeared that Henderson almost had Pettis ready to tap. But Pettis, amazingly, managed to escape and actually get Henderson's back before getting back to his feet. It was a close, exciting round that ended back on the ground with Pettis attempting a guillotine, and through four rounds I had the fight even, with the winner of the fifth winning the fight.
I've got 10 more of those kicks coming when I'm in the UFC.
-- Anthony Pettis
Early in the fifth Pettis hit Henderson with an accidental kick to the groin, which took a little wind out of Henderson's sails, and he also hurt Henderson with a punch to the head. Henderson briefly got the advantage on the ground, however, and with just a minute to go it still looked like anyone's fight.
And then Pettis did that absolutely incredible kick. That clinched a fight that he won 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 on the judges' scorecards.
Now Pettis becomes the No. 1 contender in the UFC and will take on the winner of the January 1 fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Before Thursday night, some questioned whether Pettis really belonged in that kind of a fight. Pettis erased those doubts, with one of the great highlights of MMA history.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
i still can't believe i saw that cage kick. i screamed so loud i must've woke up the whole building!
WHAAAAATTTT!!! that was an awesome ending to a great promotion. I'm kinda surprised no one has utilized the cage for a superman punch, but that ninja kick was soo good.
I'm pretty sure Alan Belcher landed a superman off the cage when he fought Akiyama at UFC 100.
You're right, I just watched it. Unfortunately I missed UFC 100; I was out of the country but haven't missed one since, and hopefully never again!
would of been 10 time crazier if he knocked him out cold...oh well still a sick kick!
i cannot wait to see when he fights for the ufc, and they make those intros where they show some highlights, his will be epic.
i think he only connected with his foot on hendersons jaw and thats why henderson was able to recover. 2-3 more inches up in the shin and i think they woulda needed to bring out the salts to get henderson up
I screamed in disbelief when he threw that ninja kick! I was going for Pettis and it was great to see such a strike. Still in disbelief, great fight overall! I'll miss the WEC! :'(
Sorry Folks but I had the fight 3 rounds to Ben and Pettis. I agree that the kick in the 5th round was something out a Chinese Kung Fu flick!!! But I had Ben winning the fight. Thats why he didnt want during the interview. He deserves the title shot after the unification......
no way henderson would've won that fight, even before that kickhe was getting rocked
It was a very close fight, but that's some pretty awful scoring.Almost everyone had this fight 48-47 for Pettis (with possible sole exception of the judge who gave him FOUR rounds), who obviously took rounds 3 and 5; how you could have given Henderson round 2 I have no idea, as Pettis was the aggressor the entire round and rocked Henderson in the process.Even Henderson's corner told him he lost the 2nd, 'mostly because he was backing up'.The clinch game was the only place where Henderson held an advantage; their grappling was essentially even and Pettis was a step ahead of Henderson standing the entire fight.
Either way, they'll both do well in the UFC.
That head kick was absolutely amazing!!! What was more amazing was how cleanly it landed and knocked Henderson down. Great fight all together.
Craziness. That was insane
The only reason the kick didn't knock Henderson out cold is because he has chin made of concrete and he STILL was out for a half second and then woke up.
Actually, I'm pretty sure it was because Pettis landed it with his foot instead of his shins. It was still nonetheless an awesome kick!
this fight is why I watch MMA.
Sorry, but Pettis tries that flashy crap against the level of competition in the UFC lightweight division he's going to get schooled really fast.
It's pretty sad you are such a fanboy that you just called some very creative, technical striking 'flashy crap'.
That being said, no one should the mistake of leaving their hands down like that against Pettis again.
In TKD it is called the "Reflex" kick. We teach it to 10 year olds. Nothing new here. Great that the kids can see a fancy kick they do in class in the ring/cage
C'mon man, give credit where it is due.
Pettis himself admitted to having spent time training it, and after all, he does hold a black belt in Taekwondo.
In an MMA contest, that has NEVER happened before.