UFC defined the organization’s next lightweight title challenger this Saturday in Boston. With his second win over BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar will now face off against Gray Maynard, who overcame Kenny Florian. Randy Couture, Demian Maia and Nate Diaz also did well. Check out the results:
Frankie Edgar vs BJ Penn
Frankie Edgar dispelled all doubts regarding his UFC lightweight title. In the rematch with Penn, this time the Ricardo Cachorrão purple belt won in undeniable fashion. He dominated the five rounds, landing the better strikes, takedowns and using his ground-and-pound to effect. At the end of the dispute against an apathetic BJ, a unanimous decision yielded Frankie his first successful title defense. Now he will have a shot at the only person ever to have beat him in his professional career, Gray Maynard, who overcame Kenny Florian on the same evening.
Randy Couture vs James Toney
In the bout pitting a champion MMA fighter against a boxing one, Randy Couture came out on top. The former champion of two divisions in the UFC (heavyweight and light heavyweight) at forty seven years of age didn’t make things easy on the pugilist James Toney. He avoided all risky standup and went straight for the takedown. After getting the mount he landed strikes and sunk an arm-triangle that left first-time MMA fighter Toney with no choice but to tap out.
Demian Maia and Mario Miranda
From his opponent’s corner Demian Maia could hear shouts from his former rival Anderson Silva, adding some extra seasoning to the matchup. But the Jiu-Jitsu champion had no difficulty in catching Mario Miranda off guard, despite the instructions from his disaffected former opponent. With his wrestling up to speed, he took the fight to the ground on multiple occasions and worked well on the ground. He took his opponent’s back and managed to mount a few times, but the submission eluded him, as his slippery opponent defended well.
Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard
Cold, calculating and also bureaucratic, Gray Maynard is the new challenger to the UFC lightweight belt. His seventh decision win in a row came by way of his main characteristic: wrestling. Maynard took Kenny Florian down for three rounds and worked well on top. He controlled the fight with precision, but with no emotion; nothing that diminishes the perfect campaign of the fighter, who is undefeated in eleven fights, nine of which were in the UFC, though. Maynard’s found out who his next opponent will be soon thereafter, with the outcome of the title fight between Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn.
Nate Diaz vs Marcus Davis
The bout started out fast-paced, with a lot of striking and Nate Diaz provoking his opponent. Still in the first round, Diaz managed to open a cut over Marcus Davis’s right eye, an injury that worsened in the rounds that followed. In the third stanza, with his eye very swollen, Davis suffered a takedown. From the top, Diaz squeezed out a guillotine that left his opponent unconscious.
In the first fight of the event Mike Pierce and Amilcar Alves fought for all of three rounds, but Pierce ended up winning by armbar.
Check out the complete results:
UFC 118
Boston, Massachusetts, EUA
August 28, 2010
Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn via unanimous decision
Randy Couture submitted James Toney via arm triangle at 3:19 min of R1
Demian Maia defeated Mario Miranda via unanimous decision
Gray Maynard defeated Kenny Florian via unanimous decision
Nate Diaz submitted Marcus Davis via guillotine at 4:02 min of R3
Joe Lauzon submitted Gabe Ruediger via armbar at 2:01 min of R2
Nik Lentz defeated Andre Winner via unanimous decision
Dan Miller submitted John Salter via arm triangle at 1:53 min of R2
Greg Soto defeated Nick Osipczak via unanimous decision
Mike Pierce submitted Almicar Alves via armbar at 3:11 min of R3