Ben Henderson dominates Nate Diaz to retain UFC belt

• Henderson dominated all five rounds to retain his UFC lightweight title

Benson Henderson's second title defense was more decisive than his first.

After earning a questionable decision win over Frankie Edgar earlier this year, Henderson (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) left no doubt against challenger Nate Diaz (16-8, 7-6), retaining his lightweight title in Saturday's UFC on FOX 5 main event at Seattle's KeyArena.

Henderson dominated all aspects of the five-round headliner, which marked the pay-per-view company's first network-televised title fight in more than a year.

The bout featured two well-rounded fighters, with Henderson's base in wrestling and Diaz's in a slick jiu-jitsu game. Henderson, though, dictated both the location and the pace of the fight. After chopping away at Diaz's legs with low kicks, Henderson easily scored takedowns, where he remained on the mat just long enough to deliver some heavy ground and pound before avoiding the challenger's submission attempts.

Additionally, Henderson battered Diaz on the feet and landed 124 significant strikes to Diaz's 30, according to FightMetric. The blows resulted in knockdowns in the second and third rounds, and final scorecards of 50-43, 50-45 and 50-45.

The dominance clearly frustrated the usually ill-tempered Diaz, who forced FOX cameras to cut away from the televised action after flipping off the champ in-fight a half dozen or so times.

For Henderson, who's gone to the scorecards in all of his UFC fights, it wasn't just about the dominance; it was about how long he maintained it thanks to his renowned conditioning and durability.

"It's just a matter of being well-prepared and being in the gym as much as possible," Henderson said. "All these guys want to talk about being fighters and they train this hard. Nate obviously trains his butt off. He's freaking tough as heck. But at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz., that's what we're all about."

Gustafsson, MacDonald and Brown victorious

In the night's co-headliner, Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson (15-1, 7-1) solidified his top-contender status with a decisive decision victory over former champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (22-7, 5-5). Gustafsson avoided some early submission threats and then put his prolific striking on display for the remainder of the fight, which marked his sixth straight UFC win.

In a featured welterweight bout, the new phenom beat down the old one as Rory MacDonald (14-1, 5-1) topped former two-division champ and early UFC star B.J. Penn (16-9-2, 12-8-2) via dominant unanimous decision. The fighters traded barbs in the lead-up to the fight, but once in the cage, Penn offered little for MacDonald, who often toyed with his opponent during 15 minutes of domination.

In the night's opening main-card bout, Matt Brown (16-11, 6-5) threatened with submission attempts before flooring fellow welterweight Mike Swick (15-5, 10-4) with a violent second-round knockout. Once on the verge of his release from the promotion, Brown since has won four straight fights, including three via knockout.

The full UFC on FOX 5 results included:

Ben Henderson def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (50-43, 50-45, 50-45)

Alexander Gustafsson def. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Rory MacDonald def. B.J. Penn via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

Matt Brown def. Mike Swick via knockout (punches) -- Round 2, 2:31

Yves Edwards def. Jeremy Stephens via knockout (strikes) -- Round 1, 1:55

Raphael Assuncao def. Mike Easton via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Ramsey Nijem def. Joe Proctor via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Daron Cruickshank def. Henry Martinez via knockout (head kick) -- Round 1, 2:57

Abel Trujillo def. Marcus LeVesseur via TKO (knees) -- Round 2, 3:56

Dennis Siver def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision (30-24, 30-25, 30-26)

Scott Jorgensen def. John Albert via submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 1, 4:59

Stupp writes for MMAjunkie.com, part of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group