HOUSTON — Usually, the last of a trilogy ends up as a letdown. Whether it is a movie franchise that has gone on too long or fighters that compete past their prime, it doesn’t often require three cracks at something to make it memorable.
But the final fight of the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard trilogy was so riveting it blew past any expectations. Again, Maynard had Edgar in a world of trouble early, and again Edgar refused to be put away, surviving on guts for an entire round. And then, summoning the unreal courage of a scripted action hero, he came back and vanquished the man that had been the thorn in his side, blasting Maynard into a fourth-round TKO finish at UFC 136.
It was an epic finish to a fight series that saw each man win one time as well as fight to a draw.
“Think about all the fights we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” UFC president Dana White said. “How many fights you have seen where you see where a guy goes out gets hurt that bad in the first round? I tell you, that’s movie s—. That stuff doesn’t really happen in real life. There’s two guys I’ve seen do it: Arturo Gatti and Frankie edgar. That’s it. What he did last time and this time … he’s an amazing human being, an amazing athlete, and he has a heart the size of his room.”
How Rocky-like was his performance? In the post-fight press conference, a Brazilian reporter raised his hand to ask a question, played the Rocky theme from his phone and asked Edgar for his comment.
He needed every bit of that fighting spirit to retain his gold. Maynard tattooed Edgar early in the first, dropping him several times. It began much like their last fight in that regard. But in their January bout, Maynard went all in for the kill, didn’t get it, and fought through exhaustion the rest of the way as they went to a draw. This time, Maynard stalked Edgar around the cage and picked his shots more judiciously. The result was the same: Edgar in trouble but finding a way to escape.
Even though Maynard out-struck Edgar 36-11 in round one, the champ lived to fight another round.
Afterward, a dejected Maynard said he didn’t regret his approach.
“I did hit him with a knee, a right, a hook,” he said. “What else? If there was a bat there I probably would have hit him with that, too. I couldn’t find one.”
For Edgar (14-1-1), it was sheer basic instinct keeping him alive, much as it did the first time around.
“Sometimes you get hit like that, you’re in survival mode,” he said. “I don’t think you have a plan. I got fight in me. That’s what it is. You’re going to hit me and rock me, I’m going to keep coming no matter what. The big thing for me is I keep listening to my corner. They helped me make the adjustments i needed to make so I could come back and win this fight.”
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The big adjustment he made was in his movement. Maynard caught him with several uppercuts early, and Edgar made a concerted effort to adjust his positioning to keep him from being lined up down the middle.
That immediately paid dividends as his footwork and activity immediately started taking over the fight. According to Compustrike, Edgar out-struck Maynard 20-5 in the second round and 22-11 in the third.
But it was the fourth when Edgar ended the trilogy in style. Though never known as a huge puncher, Edgar blasted Maynard with an uppercut which clearly wobbled him. Edgar went for broke, firing off right hands as Maynard fell to the mat. A couple more shots on the grounded challenger, and it was over.
Edgar went wild in the cage after scoring his first finish since tapping out Matt Veach in December 2009.
Maynard said later that it was the first time he’d ever been rocked like that, including in training.
“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Edgar said. “After every fight, you think about it for so long. It’s a weight lifted off my shoulder that much more when I’ve been thinking about him for the last 10 months, and he also had the previous win over me.”
For Edgar, those previous results no longer matter. Gray Maynard had nine rounds to win the belt from him. He rocked him multiple times. He had Edgar down and out. And he couldn’t finish. Edgar always came back.
It was amazing to witness, even if you were the guy on the other side of history.
“He’s just a tough kid,” Maynard said, shaking his head. “I don’t know if he has a button that puts him out.”
HOUSTON — Usually, the last of a trilogy ends up as a letdown. Whether it is a movie franchise that has gone on too long or fighters that compete past their prime, it doesn’t often require three cracks at something to make it memorable.
But the final fight of the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard trilogy was so riveting it blew past any expectations. Again, Maynard had Edgar in a world of trouble early, and again Edgar refused to be put away, surviving on guts for an entire round. And then, summoning the unreal courage of a scripted action hero, he came back and vanquished the man that had been the thorn in his side, blasting Maynard into a fourth-round TKO finish at UFC 136.
It was an epic finish to a fight series that saw each man win one time as well as fight to a draw.
“Think about all the fights we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” UFC president Dana White said. “How many fights you have seen where you see where a guy goes out gets hurt that bad in the first round? I tell you, that’s movie s—. That stuff doesn’t really happen in real life. There’s two guys I’ve seen do it: Arturo Gatti and Frankie edgar. That’s it. What he did last time and this time … he’s an amazing human being, an amazing athlete, and he has a heart the size of his room.”
How Rocky-like was his performance? In the post-fight press conference, a Brazilian reporter raised his hand to ask a question, played the Rocky theme from his phone and asked Edgar for his comment.
He needed every bit of that fighting spirit to retain his gold. Maynard tattooed Edgar early in the first, dropping him several times. It began much like their last fight in that regard. But in their January bout, Maynard went all in for the kill, didn’t get it, and fought through exhaustion the rest of the way as they went to a draw. This time, Maynard stalked Edgar around the cage and picked his shots more judiciously. The result was the same: Edgar in trouble but finding a way to escape.
Even though Maynard out-struck Edgar 36-11 in round one, the champ lived to fight another round.
Afterward, a dejected Maynard said he didn’t regret his approach.
“I did hit him with a knee, a right, a hook,” he said. “What else? If there was a bat there I probably would have hit him with that, too. I couldn’t find one.”
For Edgar (14-1-1), it was sheer basic instinct keeping him alive, much as it did the first time around.
“Sometimes you get hit like that, you’re in survival mode,” he said. “I don’t think you have a plan. I got fight in me. That’s what it is. You’re going to hit me and rock me, I’m going to keep coming no matter what. The big thing for me is I keep listening to my corner. They helped me make the adjustments i needed to make so I could come back and win this fight.”
%VIRTUAL-Gallery-136100%
The big adjustment he made was in his movement. Maynard caught him with several uppercuts early, and Edgar made a concerted effort to adjust his positioning to keep him from being lined up down the middle.
That immediately paid dividends as his footwork and activity immediately started taking over the fight. According to Compustrike, Edgar out-struck Maynard 20-5 in the second round and 22-11 in the third.
But it was the fourth when Edgar ended the trilogy in style. Though never known as a huge puncher, Edgar blasted Maynard with an uppercut which clearly wobbled him. Edgar went for broke, firing off right hands as Maynard fell to the mat. A couple more shots on the grounded challenger, and it was over.
Edgar went wild in the cage after scoring his first finish since tapping out Matt Veach in December 2009.
Maynard said later that it was the first time he’d ever been rocked like that, including in training.
“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Edgar said. “After every fight, you think about it for so long. It’s a weight lifted off my shoulder that much more when I’ve been thinking about him for the last 10 months, and he also had the previous win over me.”
For Edgar, those previous results no longer matter. Gray Maynard had nine rounds to win the belt from him. He rocked him multiple times. He had Edgar down and out. And he couldn’t finish. Edgar always came back.
It was amazing to witness, even if you were the guy on the other side of history.
“He’s just a tough kid,” Maynard said, shaking his head. “I don’t know if he has a button that puts him out.”
HOUSTON — Usually, the last of a trilogy ends up as a letdown. Whether it is a movie franchise that has gone on too long or fighters that compete past their prime, it doesn’t often require three cracks at something to make it memorable.