Some fights just seem destined to happen somewhere along the way.
While Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber have spent the majority of their respective careers operating in different weight classes, a potential meeting between the two former champions has been talked about for years. Yet, with the former lightweight champion dropping down to featherweight and The California Kid deciding to make a run at the bantamweight title, it appeared as if a collision between the two might never happen.
That said, mixed martial arts is a chaotic sport where anything can and usually does happen, and the necessary elements fell into place to make Edgar vs. Faber a reality at UFC Fight Night 66. While fans and media alike struggled with whether or not to label the bout as a superfight or a dream matchup, the one description that universally fit was to call it a highly anticipated affair.
Furthermore, the showcase fight on the UFC’s first visit to the Philippines was set to be a crucial bout in the race for the next shot at the featherweight title. Edgar came into Saturday riding a three-fight winning streak, and a victory over the Sacramento native had the potential to elevate him into another championship opportunity. And while Faber had been competing in the 135-pound division for the past five years, the risk and reward he faced coming into Fight Night 66 were equally high.
The Team Alpha Male leader had won six of his last seven fights coming into Manila, and a victory over Edgar would immediately put him on the radar for a title shot in the featherweight division. Both fighters are eager to get another shot at championship gold, but it was Edgar who got the job done Saturday.
The fighting pride of Toms River, New Jersey, used his volume striking and constant pressure to jump out to an early lead, and once out in front, he never looked back. While Faber was game throughout the tilt, he showed little urgency to make up ground once he fell behind on the scorecards. The end result was a unanimous decision for Edgar. The former title challenger may have earned the chance to fight for the title once again as he picked up his fourth consecutive victory in Manila.
Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 66.
The Good
With the storied career Edgar has already amassed, it is strange to say we are seeing the best Edgar ever. And it’s true.
Following a three-fight skid where he lost razor-thin decisions to Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo, The Answer has responded with the most dominant run of his career with four consecutive victories inside the Octagon. During this stretch, he has notched victories over an elite group of talented fighters, with the most recent addition to his resume being Faber at Fight Night 66.
The former lightweight champion squared off with The California Kid in the main event for the UFC’s debut event in Manila in what was one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. With a potential title shot hanging in the balance, the stakes were high, and once again Edgar answered the challenge when the pressure was on. The 33-year-old former featherweight title challenger’s signature movement-based style was on point as he led the dance with high-volume output for the majority of the 25-minute tilt.
Edgar would go on to pick up the unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. And while being the first man to defeat Faber in a non-title fight is a big accomplishment, Edgar’s true focus is getting another title shot of his own. With Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor set to handle their business at UFC 189 on July 11, it seems likely Edgar will get the next championship opportunity in the featherweight division.
*** Gegard Mousasi is as versatile as they come in the middleweight ranks, and he put his well-rounded skill set to use in his victory over Costas Philippou in Manila. While The Armenian Assassin is primarily known for his striking talents, the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion also has some grappling chops that proved difficult for Philippou to handle throughout the three-round tilt.
While his performance won’t earn rave reviews for excitement, it was efficient enough to earn Mousasi his second consecutive victory and keep his place in the elite tier of the 185-pound division intact.
*** While Fight Night 66 will be the final time Mark Munoz ever competes inside the Octagon, he couldn’t have said goodbye in a better way. The Filipino Wrecking Machine put the cap on his MMA career by drubbing Luke Barnatt for three rounds and did so in front of a passionate crowd in the Philippines.
Munoz asked for one final fight, and with that bout coming in Manila, the table was set for an ideal finish to his career. The Team Reign leader dominated Barnatt to complete what was an emotional storybook ending for the former national champion wrestler from Oklahoma State University. He left his gloves in the center of the cage and will be remembered for the class he showed in victory or defeat.
*** Neil Magny had the best year of his career in 2014 as he tied the promotion’s record for wins in a calendar year with five. The Colorado-based fighter has continued his winning ways in 2015 and picked up his seventh consecutive victory Saturday by stopping Hyun Gyu Lim via TKO in the second round.
While Lim rocked Magny and had him in serious trouble in the opening frame, the surging welterweight rebounded in strong fashion to put his opponent away with a flurry of ground-and-pound from the full mount position. With the win, Magny will continue his run up the ladder at 170 pounds and should draw a much bigger name in his next outing. For his sake, hopefully his next fight won’t have commercial breaks mid-fight.
*** It was a moment five years in the making, but Phillipe Nover made his long-awaited return to the Octagon at Fight Night 66. After being cut from the UFC after an unsuccessful stint back in 2010, The Filipino Assassin came into his bout against Yui Chul Nam at Fight Night 66 on a mission of redemption.
Whereas his initial run in the UFC saw Nover get exploited for his lack of wrestling abilities, the New York native jumped out to an early lead by using his improved grappling against Nam. The South Korean powerhouse would battle back to dominate Nover in the second half of the fight, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tides on the judges’ scorecards.
The Ultimate Fighter alum took a debatable split-decision victory to pick up his first official win inside the Octagon. Controversy or not, Nover finally tracked down an accomplishment that had been eluding him since 2008.
*** Suffering setbacks in his first two fights inside the Octagon put Jon Delos Reyes in a must-win position coming into his bout with Roldan Sangcha-an on Saturday. Fortunately for the scrappy flyweight, he not only accomplished that task at Fight Night 66 but did so in remarkable fashion as he battled back from a rocky start to finish his opponent by submission in the second round.
Sangcha-an put Delos Reyes on the deck with a big shot in the opening frame and then opened up a cut above the Guam native’s right eye with an accidental head-butt. The gushing blood seemed to ignite a fire in Delos Reyes, who dropped Sangcha-an with a right hook and then secured his first UFC victory with a rear-naked choke.
*** Jon Tuck has shown flashes of his talent during his time competing inside the Octagon but had yet to notch a performance where everything fired on all cylinders. That all changed at Fight Night 66 as he put on the best showing of his career in a first-round finish of Tae Hyun Bang to close out the preliminary portion of Saturday’s card.
The MMA Lab representative dropped Bang with a crisp right hand and finished off his opponent with a rear-naked choke on the canvas. In addition to having his best performance to date inside the Octagon, Tuck has now found victory in two of his last three outings under the UFC banner.
The Bad
While there is no exact formula to a fighter getting cut from the UFC, three straight losses is typically where things begin to turn in that direction. Luke Barnatt officially entered that unenviable territory Saturday as he suffered his third consecutive setback at the hands of Mark Munoz at Fight Night 66. Throughout the fight—as has been the case throughout his current losing streak—Barnatt failed to use his sizable reach advantage and keep the action at distance.
His inability to do that allowed Munoz to get in on him every step of the 15-minute affair and led to his defeat on the scorecards.
It’s been a rough road to travel for Dhiego Lima in the UFC. While the 26-year-old Brazilian was able to make it to the finals of the 19th installment of The Ultimate Fighter, success beyond the reality-based fighting program has been difficult to find. The American Top Team had dropped two of his three official showings under the UFC banner coming into his bout with Li Jingliang at Fight Night 66 and desperately needed to turn things around in Manila.
Unfortunately for Lima, that wasn’t the case when action got underway in the Philippines. While he stepped up on short notice to take the bout against Jingliang, that decision proved to do him zero favors as Lima lost via first-round knockout. While he was once labeled as a highly touted prospect in the welterweight fold, that status has wilted in a big way in his brief time under the UFC banner.
The Strange
Any time the UFC settles down into a new market for the first time, there are going to be a few kinks to work out, and the company attempted to work those gremlins out early at Fight Night 66.
In the first preliminary bout on the televised portion of the card, Royston Wee and Ning Guangyou squared off to get things rolling in the Philippines. While the fight was actually the third on the card, it was the first to hit Fox Sports 1, and the early action wasn’t necessarily set at slobber-knocker status.
With Wee coming in north of the 136-pound bantamweight limit, the fight was contested at a catchweight, and his performance looked sluggish from the jump as Guangyou consistently backed him across the cage.
Nevertheless, the undefeated Singapore native would battle back to score some points just as his Chinese counterpart appeared to be taking his foot off the gas in the opening round. Guangyou’s activity hit a serious decline in the final minute of the opening frame, and that move allowed Wee to go on the offensive. That said, Guangyou shifted gears at the 10-second mark and rocked Wee with a big shot as he pushed forward.
With his opponent hurt, Guangyou swarmed, and just as he began to unleash a flurry of shots to a grounded Wee, Fox Sports 1 cut to a commercial break. An advertisement for Bud Light hit television screens around the world, and it was unclear what happened in the closing moments of the round.
Was Wee saved by the bell? Or did Guangyou pour it on to secure the finish? Either way, cliffhangers of this nature are not supposed to happen in combat sports, and it was a bad look for all parties involved in the presentation.
Once the broadcast returned from “paying the bills” as they say, replay showed the referee stepping in and stopping the bout with one second remaining in the first round. Guangyou was awarded the TKO finish at the 4:59 mark, and clarity finally arrived in an initially confusing situation. Fox Sports 1 would have more issues later in the event during the Nover vs. Nam bout, but at least the crucial part of that fight wasn’t missed.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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