Edgar Finishes Maynard To End Trilogy
In a trilogy that has earned him a reputation as the Arturo Gatti of MMA, Frankie Edgar weathered the storm against Gray Maynard and came back strong as the fight drew on to eventually earn a TKO victory and retain his UFC lightweight title.
In the first round of their UFC 136 main event, we saw a flashback of the two men’s second encounter from UFC 125. Maynard caught with an uppercut Edgar multiple times, having him on the brink of defeat, but somehow, someway, Edgar survived. Throughout the second and third round, Edgar showed the heart of a champion, fighting back from a first round that most men would have never made it out of.
Well into the fourth round, Edgar took advantage of state of exhaustion Maynard was in. Edgar rocked Maynard with a flurry of punches, sending him falling against the cage. There, the champion dropped Maynard and landed a few more unanswered shots, forcing referee Josh Rosenthal to step in at three minutes, 54 seconds.
The win is the biggest and most impressive of Edgar’s career. Not only did he survive the onslaught of Maynard’s striking, Edgar came back even stronger to become the first man to finish him. Edgar's next opponent is likely to be current Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, who is rumored to move over to the UFC soon.
Maynard is now left at a crossroads. In his two title fights with Edgar, he was unsuccessful in defeating the champion. It's unlikely the UFC will put together a fourth fight between these two, with Edgar leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that he is the better fighter.
