Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard squared off on Sunday afternoon for the UFC’s lightweight title. Edgar used his speed and movement to pepper Maynard with shots before running into a monster Maynard punch that took his legs away from him.
He was able to return to his feet but was dropped again and then a further time by Maynard.
Remarkably, he was able to see out the round but things did not look good for the champ.
Sound familiar?
You could be forgiven for thinking that was a recap of the first round of Edgar and Maynard’s second fight back in January.
Amazingly, that was what we got again in their third fight on Sunday.
In the second fight, Edgar was able to recover immediately and go on to outpoint Maynard over the majority of the next four rounds to salvage a draw. It was a miraculous comeback, and one of best fights of the year.
Their third bout on Sunday outdid that UFC 125 clash on both fronts.
That’s a pretty bold statement considering the epic nature of their first bout but UFC 136’s main event out performs their second bout because of the history and platform that fight created for this event.
When Edgar was dropped and almost KO’d by Maynard three times in the first round it was so much more dramatic than the first time because it had happened before. Immediately all the questions lingering about that January bout were about to be answered.
When Edgar regained his composure and began to outpoint Maynard in the second round it was so much more impressive than their second bout because he was outpointing a Maynard who knew how to handle the situation.
The Maynard supporters before this bout claimed that if Maynard had picked his shots more carefully after destroying Edgar in the first round he would have been able to put the champ away.
Maynard had almost an exact replication of that scenario to prove this point and Edgar was still able to outpoint him.
And finally when Edgar sealed the fight and the trilogy with those successive right hands that dropped and stopped Maynard it was so much more incredible than his fight back at UFC 125.
It’s not just because it was a stoppage win instead of a drawn decision. If Edgar had stopped Maynard in the first round after getting dropped by Maynard, it would have been an incredible sight but there would have inevitably been questions about whether Edgar had gotten lucky.
The result on Sunday was the most conclusive result Edgar could have asked for. By taking rounds two and three on the scorecards he showed that his performance at UFC 125 was not because of Maynard being tired. Then sealing it in the fourth by doing what Maynard was unable to do in two successive fights was just the perfect ending to an epic fight and trilogy.
The rest of the UFC 136 card was full of excitement with the highlight being Chael Sonnen’s return to the limelight.
After serving a suspension that he received after his loss to Anderson Silva last August, Sonnen returned to centre stage on Sunday night against Brian Stann and did not disappoint in the fight or in the post-fight interview.
Stann was a credible opponent for Sonnen but he turned out to be little match for the self-proclaimed “true UFC middleweight champion”.
Sonnen dominated Stann with his wrestling and impressive guard passing skills before cinching up an arm triangle choke in the second round for his first finish in his UFC career.
He had no interest in Joe Rogan’s questions in the post-fight interview, preferring to seize the microphone and proclaim, “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck.” He went on to lay down a “loser leaves town” ultimatum to Silva before exiting the cage.
The UFC would be crazy not to schedule that rematch.
In the forgotten title bout on the card, Jose Aldo made another successful defence when he outpointed Kenny Florian over five rounds in a sometimes mundane affair.
Florian tried to impose the gameplan he used in his lightweight title tilt against BJ Penn, which revolved around takedown attempts and tiring clinch attempts against the cage. Unfortunately for Florian, the tactics were as unsuccessful as they were in the Penn fight.
Aldo’s superior striking and wrestling kept the fight on his terms and earned him a comfortable decision win.
There are rumours swirling that Florian will retire after this bout.
It was his third attempt to win a UFC title, and it would be hard for him to return to title contention again so I would not be surprised if he does intend to retire and then focus solely on his budding commentary career.
In the night’s other main card action, Joe Lauzon shocked pretty much everybody by dropping and then submitting the highly fancied, Melvin Guillard with a rear naked choke in just 47 seconds.
It was brutally disappointing for Guillard who was on the verge of a title shot. Overconfidence is something that has plagued Guillard throughout his career, and his demeanour upon entering the cage on Sunday suggested he didn’t think too much of his opponent.
Just like the Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz submission losses, this fight should be used as yet another learning experience for the supremely talented Guillard.
In the final fight on the card, Nam Phan got revenge against Leonard Garcia with a unanimous decision victory in an incredibly entertaining fight.
After being robbed by the judges in their first fight at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in 2010, Phan got some satisfaction by outstriking his opponent by a larger margin than he did the first time around to clearly take the first two rounds.
Things got interesting in the third round though as he was dropped by Garcia. He was able to avoid Garcia’s winging follow up shots though and ride out the rest of the round.
Full Results
Main Card
Frankie Edgar def. Gray Maynard via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 3:54
Jose Aldo def. Kenny Florian via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Chael Sonnen def. Brian Stann via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:51
Nam Phan def. Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Joe Lauzon def. Melvin Guillard via submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 0:47
Preliminary Card
Demian Maia def. Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Pettis def. Jeremy Stephens via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Stipe Miocic def. Joey Beltran via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Darren Elkins def. Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
Aaron Simpson def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Massenzio def. Steven Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Fight of the Night: Nam Phan versus. Leonard Garcia
Submission of the Night: Joe Lauzon
Knockout of the Night: Frankie Edgar
Attendance: 16, 164
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