UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II

Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar laid to rest any doubts over who the best lightweight in the UFC is, as the New Jersey wrestler dominated BJ Penn over five one-sided rounds to defend his 155lbs title for the first time.

Many, myself included, thought that Penn did enough to win the first fight and would set the record straight once and for all at UFC 118. Much of the former champion’s pre-fight rhetoric centred around claiming that Edgar could do no better than his performance in Abu Dhabi, while insisting that he would be suitably motivated to up his game and blow ‘The Answer’ away at the second attempt.

It wasn’t to be though. Penn looked very much the same slow, plodding fighter that he did in the first bout, whereas Edgar, while employing similar tactics to those that beat Penn first time around, appeared faster, stronger and more confident than ever before.

Edgar showed fantastic conditioning and energy, bouncing around the cage and landing fast, accurate combinations at will on his ponderous foe. Penn appears to have fallen into the same trap as Quinton Jackson of simply trying to stand and box with his opponents, and it wasn’t until late on in the bout that he mixed up his offence and took Edgar to the mat. Even then though, Edgar showed tremendous technique and power as he reversed position on one of MMA’s most decorated jiu-jitsu players.

It’s customary after any BJ Penn defeat to look for reasons as to how such a talented fighter could perform so poorly. Apparently Penn has broken away from the Maranovich brothers, who led his training camps prior to dominating victories over Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, with some speculating that his performances against Edgar suffered as a result. There has also been criticism levelled at Penn’s corner during the fight, particularly from UFC commentator Joe Rogan, for the way in which they simply coddled him in between rounds rather than giving any real instruction.

All that aside, you have to give full credit to Frankie Edgar. The lightweight champion displayed a level of speed and stamina that 'The Prodigy' just couldn’t live with, and at this point it’d be remiss to say anything else other than that he simply has Penn’s number.

UFC 118’s co-main event saw the MMA debut of multi-division boxing champion James ‘Lights-out’ Toney. After chasing UFC president Dana White up and down the country, Toney was finally granted his opportunity to prove himself in a bout with former two-weight champion Randy Couture. It lasted all of four minutes, as Couture took Toney down with laughable ease and eventually worked his way into an arm triangle. It appeared as if Toney didn’t even know how to tap out, causing referee Mario Yamasaki to intervene on his behalf.

Elsewhere on the card Gray Maynard cemented himself as the no.1 contender for Edgar’s lightweight title with a decision victory over Kenny Florian. Maynard used his impressive wrestling to take Florian to the mat and keep him there, and while his safety-first performance didn’t go down too well with Florian’s native Boston crowd, it was enough to secure him an overdue title shot against a man he has already beaten once.

Nate Diaz was another to stake a claim for himself as a top contender. The younger Diaz brother showed crisp boxing and excellent jiu-jitsu as he choked out Marcus Davis in round three of their bloody ‘fight of the night’ confrontation.

A clash of heads early on opened up a nasty cut above Davis’ right eye and impaired ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’s’ vision throughout. The fight was eventually stopped after Diaz caught Davis with a guillotine choke in the third round; Davis refused to tap and referee Yves Lavigne eventually called a halt after seeing that he had lost consciousness.

The win was Diaz’s second at 170lbs but, when interviewed after the fight, the Stockton native expressed an interest in returning to lightweight to challenge Gray Maynard, a man who he defeated on season five of The Ultimate Fighter.

Former middleweight title contender Demian Maia took on fellow Brazilian Mario Miranda to round off the main card. The clash of jiu-jitsu black belts followed much the same pattern for three rounds, with Maia dragging Miranda to the ground and hunting for submissions. Miranda, a student of the Nogueira brothers, showed impressive submission defence to escape several perilous positions and probably did enough to earn himself another UFC bout, despite dropping a unanimous decision.