MANILA, Philippines - The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Japan for the first time in more than a decade as UFC 144 unfurls today in Tokyo with Frankie Edgar staking his lightweight title against a fast-emerging Ben Henderson.
This is the fourth defense for Edgar after snatching the lightweight title away from BJ Penn, who visited Manila last year, at UFC 112 two years ago. He sucessfully defended the crown with another victory over Penn at UFC 118 four months later, a draw and a knockout win over Gray Maynard at UFC 125 and UFC 138, respectively, last year.
Edgar, who currently owns a record of 14-1-1 (win-loss-draw), will take on a fighter who is coming off three straight triumphs over Mark Bocek at UFC 129, Jim Miller at UFC Live5 and Clay Guida at UFC on Fox – all last year since jumping from UFC’s sister group WEC two years back.
Henderson owns a 15-2 slate and should be a welcome change for Edgar who is fighting an opponent not named Penn or Maynard.
The fight to watch out especially for Filipinos is the middleweight bout pitting Japanese Yushin Okami against Tim Boetsch.