I'm re-watching the fight now. Will break it down round-by-round:
Round one: Pretty even. All stand up, with no take down attempts from either fighter. Bendo was dominant for most of the round, but Thatch sort of took over toward the end. Could honestly be scored a 10-10, or a slight edge to either guy. I gave a slight edge to Bendo, but have no problem if others disagree.
In between rounds: Thatch's coaches are very pleased with his performance so far. They offer more positive affirmation than actual advice. They tell Thatch that he's hurting Bendo to the body. Bendo's coaches aren't pleased at all. They offer more advice than Thatch's, they implore Bendo to take the fight to the ground where they feel he has a big advantage. Thatch is also standing and looking very relaxed and confident. Bendo is sitting and taking in lots of water and has a somewhat more nervous and less confident demeanor than Thatch.
Round two: Stand up again so far. Pretty even again. About 90 seconds into the round, an info graphic comes up revealing that Bendo has landed 30 total strikes while Thatch has landed only 20. Thatch starts to take over after that, landing the harder, cleaner shots to the face. Bendo is staggered momentarily, but is not badly rocked and recovers well. With about 1:40 left in the round, another info graphic comes up that states that Bendo has landed 14 body strikes while Thatch has only landed 10. This seems to confirm the eye test, because I had already noticed that Bendo had landed a lot of solid punches to the body throughout the fight. Bendo connects with a solid leg kick and a punch, but Thatch counters with a nice straight. Thatch trips Bendo and briefly lands some ground and pound, but Bendo is soon back to his feet. They inexplicably hug it out for a second in the Octagon, and then Thatch lands several solid punches. Bendo gets tripped again with about 50 seconds left in the round. Thatch throws a few GNP shots to the face and then pulls back and starts landing leg kicks while holding Bendo's feet. Bendo advances to the butt-scoot position after about 10 seconds and then Thatch lets him back up. The round ends with stand up, but neither fighter lands anything of consequence. Much better round for Thatch, but Bendo is far from getting wrecked, it's a standard 10-9 not anywhere near a 10-8.
In between rounds: Bendo is sitting on the stool, coaches instruct him to take deep breaths, they try to get him to take out his mouthpiece, but Bendo refuses (probably because of the ongoing toothpick thing with him). Joe Riggs, who is in Bendo's corner, tells him that Thatch is tired. Other coach tells him to keep moving forward and to really commit to a take down when it is there. Back in Thatch's corner, he's again standing the whole time, does not look tired at all, still looks confident. They tell him to look for counters and at the end they tell him to start by just touching Bendo and they say "touch, touch, touch, touch, touch" over and over again.
Round three: Stand up to start. Thatch is dominating, but not really hurting Bendo at all. Bendo goes for a take down, gets initially stuffed, but chain wrestles and eventually gets the take down. Quickly takes the back and goes for chokes. Secures a body triangle. Spends almost all of the round on Thatch's back, but Thatch gets back up with about 20 seconds left in the round after Bendo goes for an armbar attempt that backfires. Last 20 seconds are uneventful. This is still a close fight, could be 2-1 for either fighter or possibly a draw.
In between rounds: Thatch is still standing in his corner. Cutman is working hard on Thatch's right eye which is badly swollen. Corner tells him to "avoid the wrestling exchanges" and "don't clinch unless you're throwing a knee and circling out." They tell him two more rounds, these are championship rounds, you're a champion, get it! Back in Bendo's corner, they tell him to get into the clinch and then shoot for doubles.
Round four: As the round starts, the commentators point out that Thatch has swelling under BOTH eyes, which had been obscured from the camera view in between rounds. Right eye still seems to be worse, but left eye is also affected and it didn't seem like it was worked at all in between rounds, just the right eye. Bendo starts landing several solid punches standing, perhaps aided by Thatch's decreased vision. Thatch starts throwing back, but mostly misses and lunges. Bendo shoots for a single instead of a double like his coaches advised, but gets stuffed. There are fairly even striking exchanges after that. Bendo shoots an explosive take down counter to a missed Thatch punch with about 2:40 left in the round and Thatch has no chance of avoiding it. Bendo quickly passes to half guard and then just about as quickly passes to side control from there. Thatch then quickly gives up his back from there. Thatch scrambles, but Bendo stays on top, landing in half guard. Bendo lands some elbows and then gets Thatch's back again. Starts landing heavy GNP to Thatch's face as well as a knee to the body. Thatch stands back up from that position, but is pretty quickly dragged back down. Bendo soon after gets under the chin, cranks the choke, and Thatch is forced to tap.
Conclusion: Bendo won round three clearly and arguably won round one. He was also winning round 4 before the stoppage. The only round he clearly lost was round two. Hardly a comeback, especially not an epic one.
If you want to watch or re-watch the fight yourself, go here:
http://fightvideo.mmatd.com/f1-f38/benson-henderson-vs-brandon-thatch-t78960.html
For a professional recap of the fight, go here:
http://www.mmamania.com/2015/2/15/8...on-henderson-vs-brandon-thatch-broomfield-mma