UFC 125: Edgar-Maynard a hard-fought draw

[BABY1]

TweetLAS VEGAS – Frankie Edgar was battered and pummeled around the cage in the first round of his defense of his UFC lightweight title against Gray Maynard on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the main event of UFC 125.


Edgar (13-1-1), though, managed to survive and pulled out a split draw. One judge had it 48-46 for Maynard, one had it the same way for Edgar and the other had it 47-47. As a result of the split draw, Edgar retains the championship.
Maynard (10-0-1 with one no-contest), who back in 2008 handed Edgar his only career loss, ripped the champ with a huge left hook. That sent Edgar somersaulting back toward the cage as Maynard charged after him. He battered Edgar with huge shots throughout and there were many at ringside shouting for referee Yves Lavigne to stop the bout.


Gray Maynard parries a Frankie Edgar kick during their UFC lightweight title bout Saturday night.
(Tracy Lee photo)

Edgar somehow managed to survive and was a different fighter in the second. Edgar actually won the round, using his boxing and his movement to frustrate Maynard and score points.
The bout was excruciatingly close the rest of the way, as neither man could maintain an advantage. It was primarily a boxing match, as each was able to stuff the other’s takedown attempts.
Anthony Pettis, the final WEC lightweight champion, was supposed to fight the winner but that may now be delayed in favor of a rematch.
Brian Stann asked the UFC to put him in a match with Chris Leben, and he showed his confidence wasn’t misplaced. He knocked Leben out at 3:37 in the first round, overpowering the former star of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and forcing referee Josh Rosenthal to stop the fight.
Stann, a former Marine Corps captain who dedicated the bout to a former comrade who died in action this week in Afghanistan, started the end of the middleweight fight with a big right hand that rocked Leben. A former WEC light heavyweight champion, Stann followed Leben around the cage, raining down punches, until Rosenthal stopped it.
The bout between Thiago Silva and Brandon Vera had Fight of the Night potential but it wound up being another grappling contest, as Silva took Vera down in each round and held him there.
The most excitement came in the final minute, when Silva was firing shots at Vera while they were on their knees along the cage. Vera wound up with a badly broken nose.
That’s all he won, though, as judges scored it 30-27, 30-26 and 30-27 for Silva.
Dong Hyun Kim outlasted Nathan Diaz, winning 29-28 on all three judges’ cards in yet another grappling contest. Kim took Diaz down in all three rounds and his strength enabled him to maintain control in a very close fight.
The judges all gave Kim the first two rounds and gave Diaz the third.
Clay Guida opened the pay-per-view portion of the card with perhaps his biggest win, submitting former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi with a guillotine choke at 4:27 in the second.
Guida circled and stayed about 10 feet away from the hard-hitting Gomi for most of the fight. But when they hit the ground, the relentless Guida quickly rolled into position and slapped on the choke. Gomi quickly submitted.
Jeremy Stephens knocked out Marcus Davis, landing a right hand on the chin that sent Davis flat on his back and out. Stephens added a powerful shot from the top before referee Kim Winslow got in to stop it a 2:33 of the third.
Davis hurt Stephens in the first with a punch, but couldn’t finish him off. He paid for that when he got caught in the third. Both men threw at the same time, but Stephens’ got there first and the fight was over in a flash.
Josh Grispi was supposed to fight champion Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title, but when Aldo had to pull out because of an injury, Grispi asked to be kept on the card anyway.
It turned out to be a very unwise decision.
Replacement Dustin Poirier’s striking was the difference in the bout, as he battered Grispi around the cage with his hard, accurate punching. By the end of the second round, Grispi could barely get off the ground.
Poirier won 30-27 on all three judges’ cards.
Brad Tavares got rattled early by a Phil Baroni punch, but he managed to rally an knock out veteran Phil Baroni at 4:20 of the first round of their middleweight match. Tavares landed a kick that stunned Baroni and then sent him back to the cage. Tavares ripped Baroni with a right hand and then landed a series of shots in combination until referee Josh Rosenthal stopped it.

[jipped genes]

Tweetedgar has heart........lots of heart. he gutted out the first after that beating and came back from it. they were both exhausted by the end

the fight i thought was great was the kim vs diaz. a wrestler vs a bjj guy. the positions diaz was able to utilize and the defense of both guys on the ground was amazing

sorry to see marcus davis loose but stephens is fun as hell to watch

[FUZO]

TweetBULL SHIT MAYNERD WON THAT FIGHT. THIS IS DISGUSTING HOW THE UFC IS KISSING FRANKIES ASS. THE FIRSTB FIGHT WITH BJ WE ALL KNOW BJ OUT WON HIM WITH THE PUNCH STAT STATISTICS AND WE ALL KNOW BJ WON THAT CLOSE FIGHT BUT THEY GIVE IT TO FRANKIE THEN THE 2ND FIGHT BJ CAME OUT LIKE A DOPE HEAD ON DRUGS WHO DIDNT HAVE ANY ENOTION. NOW EDGAR FIGHTS MAYNERD AND ITS A DRAW ARE YOU KIDDING ME. WHEN SOMEONE ASKED EDGAR IF HE WANTED A REMATCH RIGHT AWAY INSTEAD OF SAYING YES HE SAYS WHAT EVER THE UFC WANTS HE COULDNT EVEN SAY YES RIGHT AWAY. AND THEN TO MAKE IT WORSE THEY WANT PETIS TO FIGHT HIM NOW BEFORE A REMATCH THAT MEYNARD WON. AND WHY WASNT DANA THERE.ITS GETTING TO THE POINT OF NOT WATCHING IT ANYMORE. AND YOU CANBET DANA WANTS HIS NEW PRIZE PUPIL PETIS TO SHINE SO DANA WILL KISS HIS ASS

[tn94z]

TweetThe UFC doesn't control the outcomes. And I thought that the Pettis fight is going to be delayed because of the Edgar/Maynard rematch? Doesn't really matter IMO. Edgar or Maynard won't be there long. I didn't watch last night's event so I can't really comment on the fights.

I saw Stephens win though! That dude has some heart because Davis beat him down for two rounds and he still didn't give up. I like watching Stephens fight!

[tn94z]

TweetYou know, it's almost like the judges give crappy decisions when they can just because they have caught so much crap from everyone. They HAVE to do something about the judging or it's going to kill MMA!!

[FUZO]

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The UFC doesn't control the outcomes. And I thought that the Pettis fight is going to be delayed because of the Edgar/Maynard rematch? Doesn't really matter IMO. Edgar or Maynard won't be there long. I didn't watch last night's event so I can't really comment on the fights.

I saw Stephens win though! That dude has some heart because Davis beat him down for two rounds and he still didn't give up. I like watching Stephens fight!

Go on ufc.com and watch the pst fight remarks and the guy who filled in for dana said petis gets the next fight with edgar

[trip]

Tweetoverall the whole night i thought was fantastic, from prelims on, all were above average fights

imho, hard fight too score, my own problem is i don't know the intricacies of scoring, whether the first round was 10-8 or 10-7, and rounds 4-5 were pretty damned tight

maynard said he won 1-3-5, imho, frankie controlled rounds 2-5

at the end my gut was saying the classic well u have too beat the champ too win, so did i feel maynard beat him, and i was thinking no, but by one of those chinny chin chins, razor thin

overall i was okay with the draw and actually thought it was the most fair outcome

[tn94z]

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Go on ufc.com and watch the pst fight remarks and the guy who filled in for dana said petis gets the next fight with edgar

It could be, I haven't heard anything from a UFC rep. I think it will depend on how much controversy comes from it. If there is much backlash at all, they will rematch first. IMO, a draw is one of the few reasons to have an immediate rematch. There needs to be a clear cut winner of a fight for anyone to move on.

[brody13]

TweetI dont understand all the controversy really, I watched it and when it was over both me and my buddy said that was clearly a draw.
Maynard - Edgar
1. 10-8
2. 9-10
3. 10-9
4. 9-10
5. 9-10 ( this is the only round where Maynard may have won but i had Edgar the slight victor of this round. he controlled it the whole first 4 minutes. Maynard did some damage near the end which is why everyone thought he might have won it but you cant just say whoever was pushing at the end of the round gets it.)

[tn94z]

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Gray Maynard Interview: Talks UFC 125 and His Next Fight With Frankie Edgar
by Duane Finley on Jan 3, 2011 1:36 PM EST in UFC Interview

On Saturday night Gray Maynard stepped into the Octagon prepared to prove he was the best lightweight fighter in the world. When the final bell sounded he believed he had gotten the job done.

The first judge saw the fight for Maynard and even after hearing the second score go in Edgar's favor, Gray was confident the final score card would crown him the new UFC lightweight champion. When Bruce Buffer read the final score of 47-47 and the fight was declared a draw, his heart sank.

If the decision wasn't disappointing enough, word broke that an immediate rematch would not be happening and Anthony Pettis would be facing Edgar later in the year. It seemed to be a worst case scenario for Gray Maynard but things quickly turned around when UFC President Dana White called confirming the immediate rematch between Maynard and Edgar was the number one priority.

I sat down with Gray on the morning after his "Fight of the Night" performance against Frankie Edgar and in this Bloody Elbow Exclusive interview he talked about a third fight with Edgar and how close he thought he came to finishing Edgar in the first round.

"The first shot I rocked him with and he was wobbled, I thought it was over," Maynard began. "I thought 'Oh my God, I'm the lightweight champ' in the first round. Once he started to grab on to my leg and looked to survive I knew that I could either slow down, start to pick my shots or I could swing for the fences and finish him. I said '**** it' and went for the finish. I thought it was pretty close to being stopped. Frankie did a good job at staying around. I felt him go down and I hit him with some big punches. He grabbed onto the fence to pull himself up but I thought there was a good chance to knock him out completely and that's why I went for it."

Maynard continued, "In that situation those are the only two choices that you have. After the round ended I got up and was flushed because that was a fast pace right off the bat. You have to have a pace and I just didn't expect things to go down that quickly. Look at Shane Carwin when he fought Brock. I'm sure Carwin was in great shape but when he went for the finish he blew his load. In my case I was definitely in tip-top condition for this fight and after how hectic the first round was I needed to regroup and regain my composure. That is what I did in the second round."

After being knocked down on three hard shots and scrambling for his survival, champion Frankie Edgar came out in the second round looking to get back into the fight. He was able to regain his bearings and come out on the offensive in the second round.

"I knew after the first round that it was going to be a five round fight," Maynard stated. "After he took those hard shots and managed to get his bearings back I needed to adjust. Rounds two through five I had to get my legs back under me and I just didn't feel the snap or turnover in my punches. I felt good and knew I could still fight hard but I didn't feel as sharp and my feet were a little flat. There were just some small adjustments that needed to be made and had I not gone through all of that activity in the first I could have been more crisp."

In the pre-fight build up, Frankie Edgar stated it was his game plan to get Maynard into the fourth and fifth round. Edgar planned to use his experience in five round fights to wear Maynard down where he would then take advantage of him in deep water.

"There was never any question in my mind that I could fight a hard five rounder," Maynard stated. "The only issue I had was the pace of the first round. He was in trouble and I had a bit of an adrenaline dump trying to finish it but that was something I just had to adjust to. I knew I could fight five rounds. I could have fought ten rounds if that's what it took but with such a high output in the first round I needed to regroup. There was no feeling out period between us. Normally when you see two guys fight the first minute or two is spent posturing and maneuvering but that didn't happen in with us. I hit him with that shot that dropped him and we went from there."

We'll hear how Gray felt when word initially came down that Anthony Pettis would get the next shot at Edgar in the full entry.





"I know stuff will play out and I try not to get mad about it too quickly," Maynard answered when asked about the original word that Pettis would be fighting Edgar and there would be no rematch. "Obviously I was in shock and a bit hurt by it but I knew there was a chance it might not be true. I didn't know what was going on and wanted to wait to hear the official word before I reacted. When I finally heard that we were getting the immediate rematch I felt really good about it. I'm loving the fact that we get to do it again. He's a pretty tough kid and I hit him with a lot of big shots. He took my best punch, I took his and over the course of the fight we threw a lot of artillery. It was a very active fight but that is what we prepared for."

After the bout between Edgar and Maynard was announced there was a backlash throughout the MMA community that the fight was going to be one of the most boring fights of the year. While Edgar was coming off two dominant performances against former champion B.J. Penn and Maynard had defeated a who's who of lightweight contenders, there was still a stigma that the headlining bout for UFC 125 was lackluster. After the five blood and guts round that were displayed on Saturday night, few can say the bout didn't deliver on all fronts.

"People say it all the time but it's true that styles make fights," Maynard replied when asked about the assumption the fight would be boring. "Some of the people I have fought in the past I have had to prepare for different aspects of their games. There were guys who fought southpaw, some forced a slow pace but those are things you prepare for and then it is your job to figure out how to best whatever they are bringing to the table. As far as the criticism people can talk because that's what they do. I fight. They don't. I's really that simple. It's my job to go out, win fights, and that's what I have to do. Winning is my main goal and there is nothing that is going to change about that. People also have to understand that not every fight is going to be exciting. There are going to be fights that put on a good show and in the same turn there are going to be fights that don't. Not every bout is going to be a bar room brawl. Then some matchups are slugfests where two guys get in there and ****ing let it loose and it's pop, pop, pop. Other fights are technical chess matches where you don't rush in, pick your windows and expose the weaknesses you have planned for. There are entertaining aspects to every fight and most of the time it comes down to stylistic matchups but it all depends on what the person watching is into. I look at an NFL game and I have zero interest in what is going on. I don't like the sport but there are millions of people who are crazy passionate about it. I just go out there and fight. People can say whatever they want."

With the interview coming to a close Maynard took the final moments to address what his future plans entail and shout out some of the sponsors who have helped him along the way.

"I'm going to rest up for a bit, chill out and wait for the word," Maynard concluded. "I also want to thank Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, X-Cap, Dethrone, Forgiven, MMA Elite, Ghost Motorsports, The Encore Group, Tilted Kilt, Aces Bar & Grill and of the other sponsors that support me. Make sure you check out my website GrayMaynard.com and the new Bully Brand shirts that are available."

Looks like Pettis is going to have to wait.

[FUZO]

TweetTHATS COOL

[tn94z]

TweetYeah, I think if the did it any other way, it would really get the division confused. I think this is the best choice.

[jipped genes]

Tweet

I dont understand all the controversy really, I watched it and when it was over both me and my buddy said that was clearly a draw.
Maynard - Edgar
1. 10-8
2. 9-10
3. 10-9
4. 9-10
5. 9-10

i saw it this way as well. the disparity in the decisions was huge. i will say that even when maynard had edgar down, frankie went for subs. this counts.

it was a great fight, i want to see another

[trip]

Tweetgood post tn, great inverview, i like gray alot, he's always honest

[tn94z]

TweetI didn't really like him that much until I watched the countdown for 125. He seems like a really straight forward hard worker.