Frankie Edgar.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The UFC's lightweight landscape should become a lot clearer Saturday night at UFC 118 in Boston.

In the main event at the TD Garden, Frankie (The Answer) Edgar attempts to hold onto the title he stripped from 155-pound icon B.J. (The Prodigy) Penn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

"B.J.'s the greatest lightweight ever and I just beat him," Edgar said in the cage after his outdoor win April 10. "I just hope I can be half the champion he was."

He takes the first step on that road Saturday (available on pay-per-view).

Also on the main card, Kenny (KenFlo) Florian takes on Gray (The Bully) Maynard in a bout to determine who next gets a crack at the lightweight champion.

Penn and Edgar meet in a rematch of a fight that some saw quite differently than the two judges who scored it 50-45 and 49-46 for Edgar. The third judge saw it 48-47 for the challenger.

To this day, Florian says he still isn't sure who won.

"There's some days I look at it and think B.J. won, some days I think Frankie pulled it out," Florian told The Canadian Press.

It was a tough fight to score, indeed.

The smaller Edgar (12-1) used movement and speed against Penn, circling the champion and alternating in-and-out striking attacks with quick takedown attempts.

FightMetric, which tracks MMA bouts, says Penn had a 71-61 margin in high-percentage strikes. It gave Penn the striking edge in the first three rounds -- awarding the third by a razor-thin margin of 11-10 --called the fourth a 13-13 tie and gave Edgar a significant nod in the fifth.

Its stats showed Edgar successful on just one of 13 takedown attempts, which still represents a victory of sorts since no 155-pounder had taken Penn down in more than six years.

Edgar started the fight moving like he had a ferret down his pants. Bobbing and weaving, he kept circling Penn, who scored with counter-punches but looked static in comparison.

By the fifth round, Edgar had started to claim centre of the cage, moving a slower Penn around. The challenger looked fresher and busier.

When the final bell rang, Edgar threw his arms up in triumph. Penn walked over to the cage, grabbed hold of the top and sucked air.

Despite now holding the belt, Edgar remains the underdog. The mercurial Penn, who has also held the welterweight championship, is a 4-1 favourite to reclaim his title.

But the 31-year-old Penn sees it differently.

"If people are putting Frankie as the underdog, that's exactly how I feel," he told a media conference call. "I'm the underdog. I'm the guy that doesn't want to let the sport pass him by and I want to stay at the forefront of this whole thing."

The Hawaiian fighter called the loss a "wakeup call," forcing him to get better.

"I really think that that was a blessing for me and now my game can keep evolving and not stay there and become extinct."

For his part, Edgar expects an improved Penn this time.

"B.J.'s a very smart fighter and he's got a good team around him and I know he's going to come in with a great plan to counter my last fight."

The 28-year-old from Summit, N.J., who celebrated the birth of his second son, Santino, since winning the title, remains confident he can pull the upset again.

"I am sharp as iron," Edgar said. "I think B.J. is really bringing the best out of me.

For Maynard (10-0 with one no contest), Saturday night is an opportunity to right things.

Given he is the only fighter to have beaten Edgar, winning by decision in April 2008, he had a legitimate beef when he was passed over for the UFC 112 title shot.

For Florian (15-4), it is another chance after title losses to Sean Sherk (UFC 64) and Penn (UFC 101) to show his mettle.

The graduate of Season 1 of "The Ultimate Fighter" won six straight after losing a decision to Sherk, and two in a row since being stopped by Penn.

Florian has looked impressive in submitting both Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi last time out.

The Sherk loss, he said, taught him that he needed to focus on the sport full time rather than just before fights. The Penn defeat caused him to re-examine his striking style.

"Sometimes with your striking you can get away with certain things against some people," he said. "But you really have to prepare for not some of the guys but all of the guys -- and the elite guys."

Florian, who continues to work with boxing coach Peter Welch, has refined his striking under Montreal's Firas Zahabi.

In fact, Florian continues to divide his training between his native Boston and Montreal, where he works out with Zahabi, strength and conditioning guru Jon Chaimberg and other members of welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre's coaching team.

Florian, whose jab has flourished under Zahabi, points to his striking in his recent wins.

"It really was my hands that got the job done against Clay Guida," he said. "I ended up catching him with a very nice short hook that knocked him down and probably put him out, that led to the choke."

Florian says improved coaching has made a huge difference.

"I see the results. I see the results every day in training let alone fight by fight. So I know my game's at a different level yet again and I'm looking forward to testing it against a tough guy in Gray Maynard."

While noting rematches are "always great," Florian says he has no preference on Edgar or Penn as potential opponents.

"Either way I'll be happy, I just want to face the best man."

Edgar and Penn says they will have other things on their mind Saturday than think about the next lightweight challenger.

"Honestly I probably won't be watching them at all, you know," Edgar said of Florian-Maynard.

Said Penn: "I could care less about that fight, to tell you the truth."

NOTES - The card is the UFC's first in Boston, which president Dana White used to call home. Former boxing champion James (Lights Out)Toney makes his MMA debut in a heavyweight co-main event against former light-heavyweight and heavyweight title-holder Randy (The Natural) Couture. Toney is 42 and Couture 47.