Frank Edgar may not appear to have the size of a lightweight champ, but he's certainly got the heart. The UFC title holder took a vicious beating in the first and was on the ground multiple times. From there, Edgar's slick boxing and takedown defense allowed him to crawl back into the fight on the scorecards. He earned a draw, 48-46, 46-48 and 47-47, to retain his belt in the main event at UFC 125 in Las Vegas.
This Cagewriter scored it 47-46 for Maynard. (10-7, 9-10, 10-9, 9-10 and 9-10).
Update - Judges scores
Patricia Morse-Jarman: 47-47 (10-8 GM, 10-9 FE, 10-9 FE, 10-9 FE, 10-9 GM)
Glenn Trowbridge: 48-46 FE (8-10, 10-9, 10-9, 10-9, 10-9)
Marcos Rosales: 48-46 GM (update soon)
Update II - Edgar and Maynard earned Fight of the Night honors. Each fighter received a $60,000 bonus.
Edgar's trouble in the opening round started when he got buried by a Maynard left hook with 3:43 left. The champ fell to his back and did a somersault back to his feet. That's when he got on his horse. Another right hook and uppercut dropped him to his knees. Edgar got to his feet with 3:31 left and two more uppercuts dropped him again. Ten seconds later, Edgar got up, got hit some more and fell down for a fourth time. He still had three minutes and 21 seconds to get through. Edgar got up but was pinned against the cage taking shot after shot. Referee Yves Lavigne showed great restraint in not stopping the fight.
With a bloodied nose, Edgar got up with 2:40 left only to get drilled by another left hook and go down to his knees for the fifth time in the round. With 1:52 left, Edgar ate a right hook and fell down for the sixth time. He absorbed two more right hooks and slipped to the floor for the seventh time. There was still 1:37 left in the round!
Edgar got to his feet with 1:21 left and stumbled along the cage. If it were a ring, he may have fallen through the ropes. For the next 80 seconds, Edgar's hands were low as he stumbled around the cage, but Maynard was a little tired and couldn't land a fight ending punch. It was one of the more amazing tales of survival we've seen in recent MMA history.
Early strike reports said Maynard landed 97 shots in the first, so it was no surprise to see "The Bully" sapped in the second.
Update III - FightMetric reports the first round was 47-10 for Maynard in strikes landed. In the second, Maynard landed just six shots.
He was sluggish. It allowed Edgar to unscramble his head and inch back into the fight. The smaller fighter even scored a big double-leg slam takedown with 1:15 left in the round. Edgar got the second and the third was evenly matched. Maynard landed the heavier shots in the final 70 seconds and also scored a takedown.
Randy Couture was in Maynard's corner screaming at him to turn it up a notch. Couture thought Maynard won the third, but said it was very close. He was right.
In the fourth, Edgar found a home for his right hand. Maynard was slower and often missed from a distance. He also failed on multiple takedown attempts. The final round was almost dead even. It could've gone either way. Edgar looked more crisp, but Maynard landed a few good jabs and solid rights. The difference may have been Maynard's tired looking takedown attempts that were easily thwarted by Edgar.
It's the first mild blemish on Maynard's record which is now 11-0-1. Edgar (13-1-1) fell short in erasing the only loss of his career. He dropped the first matchup in Apr. of 2008.
Frankly, after that first round, Edgar should be thrilled to simply retain his title and fight another day as the champ.
Update IV - Fight Metric reports that even after the huge first round, Edgar outlanded Maynard 97-95 for the fight. Edgar made good on 3-of-13 takedown attempts while Maynard was 3-of-20. The service gave the slight nod to Maynard, but by the 10 point must system, scored it 47-47.
No comments:
Post a Comment