Back in March I did an interview with UFC lightweight Jim Miller previewing UFC 111 in Newark, N.J. Frankie Edgar, a fellow Jersey Boy, who was to challenge B.J. Penn the following month for the UFC lightweight championship.
Penn had not lost a fight as a lightweight since 2002 (Jens Pulver, UFC 35). His last four bouts at 155, beginning when he avenged his loss to Pulver by capturing the title with a rear-naked choke in Round 2, were absolute decimations of Joe Stevenson (to win the lightweight title), Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Edgar had lost just once in 12 MMA fights, many against the division’s upper-echelon fighters, but was he was a big underdog for the simple reason he wasn’t B.J. Penn, and very few lightweights were.
I asked Miller about Edgar, who defeated him via unanimous decision at a 2006 Reality Fighting show in Atlantic City, and his chances against someone widely considered the best ever to compete at 155. Miller explained the biggest difference between Edgar and Sanchez: Sanchez has one style of fighting, all out, without a backup. If Edgar’s Plan A failed, he’d unveil Plans B, C and D. Edgar’s career had yet to peak, but Miller was describing an MMA fighter to a tee, one who’s a specialist at executing every facet of the game to the highest of standards.
Edgar cracked the Penn monolith in Abu Dhabi. Saturday night in Boston, he broke it in half and smashed it to pieces during a performance so dominating not even the shadiest of judges could deny that it’s the Edgar Era. Edgar’s one-sided mauling of Penn at TD Garden proved “The Answer” is the perfect moniker for the kid from Toms River, N.J. He twice had answers for Baby Jay.
According to CompuStrike, Edgar landed 155 strikes to Penn’s 53. The same fighter who was overlooked despite wins over Sherk, Hermes Franca, Spencer Fisher and Tyson Griffin finally earned his shot in December after wiping out Matt Veach. By twice defeating Penn, and sending his career to a crossroads, Edgar’s 12-1 MMA record (7-1 UFC) and standing as champion are just rewards that are finally universally recognized.
“He absolutely dominated B.J. Penn everywhere in the Octagon tonight,” UFC president Dana White said at the post-fight press conference. “He put on an incredibly dominant performance tonight against a guy who has been the best in the world for a long time. There were a lot of questions out there and a lot of people doubting Frankie Edgar … You’ve got to be a complete jackass not to give Edgar credit after what he did tonight. I thought it was a masterpiece. He looked unbelievable.”
Next for Edgar is a title defense against the only person who’s defeated him. Gray Maynard earned that right with a convincing victory over Kenny Florian thanks to a wrestling base that overpowered Florian similar to how he beat Edgar in 2008. The initial prognosis for Edgar-Maynard II is one that will lack fireworks. If it’s a grind-it-out war, so be it. It’ll be strength against strength between two fighters far better than they were two years ago.
“He’s changed a lot,” Maynard said of Edgar. “Our fight was what, two-and-a-half, three years ago. He has changed a great deal. He’s not the same fighter.”
As for Penn, he was a no-show at the presser, only telling Joe Rogan he’s going home to Hilo, Hawaii, to figure out his future. His spot in the UFC is secure if he wants it, but his days as an elite lightweight are over. There’s no doubt he’s had a great career, but things have not fallen into place for him to be one of the best pound-for-pound, writes Jonathan Snowden.
The old guard of Penn, Florian, Sherk, Griffin, Stevenson and Sanchez has been replaced by new blood in Edgar, Maynard, Evan Dunham, George Sotiropoulos, Nate Diaz and Ross Pearson – and you can throw Joe Lauzon in the mix after his “Submission of the Night” win over Gabe Ruediger. That’s just in the UFC. WEC champions Benson Henderson (lightweight) and Jose Aldo (featherweight) could one day find themselves in that group, and Gilbert Melendez (c-Strikeforce), Eddie Alvarez (c-Bellator) and Shinya Aoki (c-DREAM) must be included in the best-in-the-world debate.
Looking through Zuffa’s prism, Edgar is the unquestioned king. He became “The Answer” after showing Chris “The Story” Liguori the basics of a ground game, after which Liguori replied, “You’re the answer to my problems.” Edgar is forever in history as the one who twice solved B.J. Penn and everyone is catching on.
“I believe in myself, my team believes in me and if it takes time for you guys [in the media] to believe in me, I know I’ll do that, too,” Edgar said.
*****
Here’s all you need to know about the farce that was James Toney’s attempt to compete against Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture. “The Natural” took him down 15 seconds into the fight and won by arm triangle submission at 3:31.
“Toney lasted longer than I thought he would,” White said.
There’s no denying Toney’s greatness as a light-heavyweight boxer, but in the world of MMA, to the surprise of no one, he had no clue.
“I didn’t feel like he demonstrated any real solid skills once he hit his butt,” Couture said. “He didn’t close his guard. He didn’t protect himself well. I was able to maneuver and get to mount pretty easily. From mount, I knew he had no idea.”
Toney, a prefight trash talker at near Chael Sonnen levels, didn’t bother to explain himself after the humiliating defeat. It’s unfair to claim that any boxer would fail in MMA, but Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao would require more than six months of training and not even consider taking on a Hall of Famer.
White, while praising Toney for taking his attempt seriously, made it clear this experiment is over in his world.
“I thought we answered this question in 1993, but James came out and he picked a fight,” White said, referring to Art Jimmerson’s loss to Royce Gracie at UFC 1. “We answered the question again in 2010. I don’t think it needs to be answered again. I don’t care if it’s (Floyd) Mayweather or anybody else.”
“He’s the IBA and NABO heavyweight champion,” White said of Toney. “He’s a boxer, and that’s what he does.”
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