Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard fight set for UFC 125
A lightweight championship
(155lb) will kick off the year 2011 in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. It was reported late Wednesday evening by MMAfighting.com that Frankie
'The Answer' Edgar (13-1), the current champion, will defend his belt against Gray 'The Bully' Maynard (10-0) on January 1 2011 at UFC 125.
The fight was announced after Maynard won a title shot after defeating Kenny Florian (at UFC 118) on August 28. That same night, Edgar won his first title defence against B.J Penn, whom he’d originally
captured the title from in April. Though the Maynard-Edgar fight was confirmed after Maynard’s win, that date was only confirmed on Wednesday.
The fight will actually be a rematch from April 2008, when Maynard beat Edgar over three rounds to earn an unanimous decision win. Edgar was overpowered in the first fight by the aptly named 'Bully' Maynard,
and it prompted calls for Edgar, who cuts almost no weight, to drop down in weight classes.
In the subsequent fights for both men, Edgar looked more impressive than Maynard, who most notably struggled against heavy underdog Nate Diaz, just barely scraping out a split-decision victory. Edgar was
given the shot ahead of Maynard, and he made the most of it by beating Penn at UFC 112 despite having come in as a 10-1 underdog, effectively putting to rest the talk he was too small for the lightweight division.
Maynard will once again try to overpower the smaller fighter, while Edgar will try to use his wrestling to stay on his feet, using his quick boxing strategy to outpoint him.
With the lightweight division now lacking its biggest draw )after Penn was twice defeated), putting the fight on New Year’s Day will effectively show the UFC's attempt to heavily expose whoever the victor
will be.
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