By Evan Stoumbelis:
Lightweight champ Ben Henderson now has a date set for his first title defense. His opponent…none other than the man he defeated to win the belt, Frankie Edgar. The rematch doesn’t come as a big surprise to fans, after Ben Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 in a thrilling fight, there was immediate talk of a rematch. Dana White and Joe Silva had opposite scores for the winner of the fight, which may have had an impact on him getting a rematch.

Dana White originally had different plans for Edgar; He wanted him to drop down to the 145 pound division and face Jose Aldo for the featherweight title. Edgar wasn’t as enthusiastic about joining the featherweight division, he wanted to continue his career as a lightweight.

After the UFC 144 press conference Edgar said “I’ve been so dominant at this weight class, I beat some very good guys, and I don’t feel it’s disrespectful towards me, I feel it’s disrespectful towards them.”

Now it seems Dana White is willing to give Edgar his chance at redemption by giving him an immediate rematch with Ben Henderson. Edgar gave 2 opponents (BJ Penn and Gray Maynard) immediate rematches, which may have helped tipped the scales in his favor when debating whether or not to change weight classes.

Henderson will be defending his title at UFC 150 which is set for August 11th in Denver Colorado.