Frankie Edgar of Toms River, N.J., retained his UFC lightweight championship at UFC 125 Saturday night in Las Vegas after this five-round rematch with Gray Maynard ended in a draw.
Edgar had to overcome a first round where he was dropped early by a left hook and endured the kind of punishment that would have finished a lesser man. After absorbing most of the 97 punches thrown by Maynard during the round, Edgar somehow survived and began his comeback with a strong second round.
The rest of the bout was thisclose with Edgar using his foot movement and hand speed to score with quick jabs and combinations. Maynard also had an affective standup attack, leaving the outcome to the judges. One had it 48-46 for Maynard of Las Vegas. Another had it 48-46 for Edgar, while the third judge had it a draw at 47-47. The Post scored it 47-47 with Edgar winning rounds 2, 4 & 5.
“I could have punched myself out in the first (round),” Maynard, now 11-0-1, said. “In round two I didn’t go that hard. But I thought I won rounds 3 and 5. Five was close, but I think I pushed the pace.”
Edgar (13-1-1) didn’t complain about the decision. As the defending champion he retains the belt. “It was a close fight,” he said. “What are you going to do?”
It was Edgar’s second title defense and a rematch of an April 2008 bout with Maynard where Edgar suffered the only loss of his UFC career. He had won five straight fights, including two against former UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn.
Maynard, a strong wrestler, had dominated Edgar with his size and nine takedowns in the first bout. But this was more of a fistfight.
Edgar was dropped early in the first round when Maynard landed a hard left hook to his chin. The Toms River native was in desperate trouble as Maynard launched into a vicious ground and pound attack.
But Edgar had tremendous resolve. He took a bevy of punches while on the ground and along the cage from the bigger Maynard. When Edgar managed to get on his feet, his legs were wobbly as Maynard continued to pursue with a endless stream of punches.
Several times it looked like the fight might be stopped as Edgar was rocked repeatedly. But somehow he survived the round and staggered to his stool with a bloody nose.
Amazingly, Edgar looked almost fully recovered when the second round began and Maynard looked gassed. Edgar was back on his toes, moving from side to side. He landed two huge right hands during the round and even picked up Maynard by the legs and power slammed him to the canvas.
“I felt good,” Edgar said of the second round. “It felt like the first round didn’t happen.”
The third round was close but Maynard landed a few more punches resuming the blood flow from Edgar’s nose.
Edgar opened the fourth by nearly locking a guillotine on Maynard, who just managed to escape. Showing excellent conditioning, Edgar stayed on his toes. He peppered Maynard with quick jabs and danced away from trouble.
I had Maynard leading 38-37 entering the fifth with Edgar needing to win the round to earn a draw and retain the title.
Maynard landed a good left hook 90 seconds into the round, while Edgar countered with a knee to the ribs. Three minutes in, Edgar scored with a quick left-right combination. A good right hand by Edgar with 50 seconds also left rocked Maynard’s chin.
In the end, the judges couldn’t decide who won, so don’t be surprised if there’s a rematch real soon.