The Hit List: The top five moments from UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson
In fairness, there could be 11 or 12 moments chosen as favorites from Saturday night's thrilling UFC Fight Night in New Orleans. Every fighter seemed to give it their all and gunned for a finish, every second of every fight.
From top to bottom, the card went down even more excitingly than we anticipated it would. Dan Henderson got back in the "W" column in a big way in the main event, Joe Proctor made submission history, Ben Rothwell showed a new part of his dangerous game, and Dustin Poirier earned a hero's welcome from the Louisiana crowd.
Read on about these moments and more, below, and then let us know your favorite moments in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter!
Dan Henderson winning again, his way
Former two-division world champion Dan Henderson has always eschewed fighting smart and safe. If the two-time Olympic wrestler had focused on staying out of danger while striking, closing the distance and taking opponents down throughout his MMA career, he likely could have won just as many world titles, but taken far less damage.
Henderson, however, loves to scrap, and so he's mostly disregarded his wrestling during fights and simply swung for the fences. That approach has garnered him legions of fans, the respect of his peers, and a record amount of knockout victories.
After a rough four years or so, Henderson got another one of those trademarked KO's, Saturday night, against the very good, and much younger Tim Boetsch. It took Henderson only 28 seconds to score the clean win.
With the way both men came out of the gate - ham hocks thrown with reckless abandon - someone was bound to go down. Even with his back against the wall, Henderson refused to fight conservatively.
As always, Henderson threw heat and didn't fear the consequences. As always, it was fun to see him do his thing.
Joe Proctor's last-second submission
Even without what would become the latest submission win in a three-round UFC fight in history, Joe Proctor and Justin Edwards' lightweight preliminary fight was an incredible back-and-forth fight. Edwards came out strong in the first round, and hurt Proctor with short-range elbows, knees and punches.
Proctor kept his head on his shoulders, and began finding his own mark later in the round. In the second, Proctor made more adjustments, began working his jab to great effect, as well as a left hook and great foot work to exit out of exchanges.
Edwards continued to stalk, and fire bombs, however. Through three close rounds that were difficult to score, Proctor and Edwards went back and forth, trading advantages and big blows.
Like so many other fights in New Orleans, Saturday night, Proctor vs. Edwards was an instant classic as it headed to the score cards. Then, Proctor landed a big knee to the body that froze Edwards.
The Bridgewater fighter took full advantage, teeing off with punches and then locking on a guillotine choke. Edwards fought the hold, even as the fight continued on the ground.
With just two seconds left in the round and fight, Edwards went limp and fell forward onto his face, with his arms at his side. Proctor had choked Edwards out, cold, and eliminating the need for judges.
It was a crazy end to a fantastic fight, with both men hanging on and refusing to die.
Dustin Poirier's homecoming
Dustin Poirier seemed to get the loudest ovation from the Louisiana crowd, even louder than LSU national champ Shawn Jordan. "Diamond" hadn't fought at home in years, and he competed again with no rest after his April win in Fairfax in order to have the honor.
Poirier looked pumped up to be in New Orleans, and he got the crowd roaring with a brutal first round TKO win over Yancy Medeiros. Poirier has won two straight fights, two in the past three months, actually.
The American Top Team fighter looks healthy and happy back at lightweight. He's also on a major roll, having won five out of his last six fights, overall.
Poirier got to prove that he is still a top prospect, and he got to do it at home, in a huge arena. After a much deserved break to heal up, he certainly deserves a top lightweight opponent, next.
Dustin has a lot of experience, but is still only 26 years old. There's no telling how good he could continue to get, but it will be fun to watch.
Thiago Tavres vs. Brian Ortega and Chris Wade vs. Christos Giagos
All four fighters in these two incredible fights deserve a ton of credit. Tavares controlled and hurt Ortega badly over the first two rounds, using excellent ground fighting savvy and take downs.
Ortega refused to give in off his back, managed to repeatedly cut open Tavares, and kept coming back after being rocked badly. It paid off with a third round TKO win for the Torrance, resident.
Wade and Giagos waged a less bloody but equally skillful grappling war for three rounds. Wade's take downs must have made the difference in the minds of the judges, but Giagos refused to allow the wrestler to do any damage on the ground.
Giagos also managed to land more strikes and finish the fight stronger, pushing Wade backwards. However you scored it, you have to admit that the fight was impressive as neither fighter allowed the other to ever maintain an advantage for very long.
Ben Rothwell's Jiu Jitsu
We all know that Ben Rothwell hits hard. Like, lights-out, hard.
So, given that he was paired with fellow power hitter Matt Mitrione, most expected this fight to end with a stoppage. Few expected that stoppage to be a submission from a slick choke.
After eatings some big shots from Mitrione on the feet, Rothwell used some fantastic agility to give a sprawl take down defense a second effort after Mitrione charged in looking for a double leg. Then, Rothwell transitioned into a front headlock and sunk in a nasty front choke.
Rothwell's lock was so tight that Mitrione tapped out almost immediately. Now, we know that Rothwell is much more than a lumbering slugger - he's a dangerous ground fighter as well.
Get this heavyweight a top-five opponent, now, UFC.
Dan Henderson let his punches fly, once more, Saturday night.
Joe Proctor had confidence in his guillotine choke, and it worked.
Dustin Poirier proved that he's still one of the top, young prospects in MMA.
Christos Giagos knees Chris Wade in their action-packed preliminary fight, Saturday.
Heavyweights be warned - Big Ben can Roth Well on the ground, as well as on the feet.