THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — On a night when several fighters fell down the ladder, or perhaps right out of the UFC, Gray (The Bully) Maynard may feel the most pain in exiting UFC 125 the same spot he came in.
The hard-nosed lightweight laid a beating on champion Frankie (The Answer) Edgar in the first round Saturday night, knocking him down multiple times. But he could not finish him and had to settle for a draw.
Now the fighters will do it all over again, with a rematch already in the works.
A bloody Edgar somehow survived the first round, regained his senses and used his speed and technical striking the rest of the way to earn the draw — thus retaining his 155-pound title.
It marked the first draw in a UFC title bout since Caol Uno and B.J. Penn met at UFC 41 in February 2003.
A glum Maynard was in a dark place after the bout, especially when he heard that Edgar would fight WEC champion Anthony (Showtime) Pettis next as planned, rather than face Maynard a third time.
"I thought that was my fight, I thought I had the belt," Maynard said. "I worked my ass off for this. I don’t know. I guess it (the Pettis news) kind of hurts."
UFC president Dana White, who did not attend the post-fight news conference, changed his mind later and confirmed that Edgar and Maynard will face off again next.
The first round was a car crash for the champion, who resembled a Cirque du Soleil performer more than a fighter the way he flew backwards, hit the ground, bounced up and down, and off the fence at various points.
"Definitely a first for me," Edgar (13-1-1) said of the beatdown.
Montreal referee Yves Lavigne, who has been criticized for stepping in too early in the past, stayed back — even when a crumpled Edgar was taking punishment at the fence from a relentless Maynard.
Should the fight have been stopped in the first?
"It could have been," said Maynard (11-0-1 with one no contest). "He was all over the place. It could have been easily (stopped), I thought."
FightMetric, which tracks MMA bouts, said Maynard landed 25 significant strikes in the first round compared to 46 over the next four rounds.
In the second round, he managed just six.
By the end of the fight, Edgar had a 95-71 in significant strikes.
Overall, Edgar was good on three of 13 takedown attempts, including one big slam. The bigger Maynard, like Edgar a former All-American collegiate wrestler, landed three of 20.
All three judges scored the first round 10-8 for Maynard. And all three gave the second and fourth to a resurgent Edgar.
"Just beat him up. You don’t need to knock him out. That will come," former champion Randy Couture yelled in Maynard’s corner after the second round. "You gave him the round."
"I was swinging for the fences," Maynard acknowledged later.
The scoring of the third and fifth rounds decided the outcome.
Judges Patricia Morse Jarman awarded the second, third and fourth round to Edgar and the fifth to Maynard on her 47-47 scorecard.
Judge Glen Trowbridge gave the second and fourth to Edgar and third and fifth to Maynard in his 48-46 decision for Maynard.
And Marcos Rosales awarded two through five for Edgar in his 48-46 nod to the champion.
Asked for his view, White said "(A) draw made sense to me."
Edgar, in search of "a little more closure," was all for a rematch.
Both fighters showed damage afterwards. Maynard, with welts under both eyes, looked the worse for wear but Edgar was also hurting.
The UFC initially had said both fighters were headed to the hospital.
"I still might make a trip," Edgar said with a wry smile.
The 29-year-old champion, who at five foot six is one of the smallest fighters in the division, came into the fight as an underdog — yet to earn respect in some quarters despite a pair of wins over lightweight icon B.J. Penn.
He surely won some more fans over with his show of courage and resilience.
"I guess that’s cool but a decisive win would have been better for me, to be honest," Edgar said. "As long as I’ve got my team behind me, it doesn’t matter who else believes."
The main event was named fight of the night, giving Edgar and Maynard an extra US$60,000 apiece. The UFC also opted to give both men their win bonuses.
On a New Year’s card that had some dud moments mixed in with the high points, several fighters may have had their final UFC hurrah before 12,688 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Veteran middleweight Phil (The New York Bad Ass) Baroni was brutally knocked out by Brad Tavares, who staggered Baroni with a head kick and then smashed him at the fence with punches and knees. It ended at 4:20 of the first round and referee Josh Rosenthal could have done Baroni a favour by stepping in several blows earlier.
The 34-year-old Baroni (13-13) is 0-2 in his return to the UFC.
It was a painful lightweight debut for Marcus (The Irish Hand Grenade) Davis, knocked out by Jeremy (Lil’ Heathen) Stephens at 2:33 of the third round.
Stephens floored the 37-year-old Davis (22-9) with a looping right and then nailed him as he lay on his back with another huge right before the referee could get there to step in.
One judges had Davis ahead two rounds to none at the time, while the other two had it one round apiece.
The devastating finish earned Stephens $60,000 for KO of the night.
Light-heavyweight Brandon (The Truth) Vera suffered a third straight defeat and, to make matters worse, had his nose rearranged by Thiago Silva during the lopsided unanimous decision.
It was Vera’s first fight since facial surgery after being smashed by a Jon (Bones) Jones elbow in March. He will need more medical help for his battered beak.
Vera (11-6) offered little other than a few bursts of activity against Silva, who had his way with him.
Vera did draw cheers from the crowd and applause from Silva after the fight when, after seeing his misshapen nose on the big screen, he mugged for the crowd.
It was a good night for middleweight Brian (All American) Stann who upset a wooden-looking Chris (The Crippler) Leben by first-round KO.
Lightweight Clay (The Carpenter) Guida also advanced his cause by handily defeating former Pride champion Takanori (The Fireball Kid) Gomi via second-round guillotine choke.
Guida picked up $60,000 for submission of the night.
It was a disappointing night for Gomi, who drops to 1-2 in the UFC.
UFC newcomer Diego (The Gun) Nunes showed an unorthodox bag of tricks, including one spinning back kick after another, in rallying to defeat former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown via split decision.
And Dustin (The Diamond) Poirier looked impressive in winning a unanimous decision over Josh (The Fluke) Grispi in a matchup of young rising featherweights.
South Korean welterweight Dong Hyun (Stun Gun) Kim won a unanimous 29-28 decision over Nick Diaz in a close, back-and-forth contest that could have gone the other way.
