The seventh fight of the night at UFC on Versus 5 is Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland. This is a bantamweight fight, meaning 135 pounds. The referee in charge of the action is Josh Rosenthal.
From the outset, Benvadiez put his stamp on this fight. For starters, speed was a huge factor.Benavidez employed a tricky tactic switching stances and using kicks to keep distance, but it was the Californian's speed that did the most damage. Finding the slightest of openings, Benavidez used blinding speed to smash Wineland's face with overhand rights that seemingly came from nowhere. They certainly didn't come from jabs. This eventually forced Wineland into counter fighting and distractedly wiping his face. His corner told him to not blow his nose indicating it was likely broken.
Wineland was able to connect in the second, but without much follow-up. The story of the second was the massively improved takedown defense of Wineland. Benavidez wasn't able to get much going during the second standing, although likely won the round on aggression alone. Wineland's reluctance to engage for fear of the takedown or confusion from Benavidez really muted his offense.
Little changed in the third, although there was a rather fun flying knee from Benavdiez after he caught Wineland with a vicious right hand. But, again, the major story was Benavidez using kicks, angles and footwork to keep Wineland guessing while he used speed to lands hard, powerhand punches.
Why, though, one of the best and most exciting bantamweights was on the Facebook preliminary portion of the card is an utter mystery especially since the UFC is so invested in giving this division air time.