Some fans left their first fight at UFC 112 believing that BJ Penn had won. No one left UFC 118 thinking that way. Yep, Frank Edgar is still the UFC lightweight champion.
Early on, Edgar took Penn down hard after getting hit as he came inside. Penn got up without sustaining any damage several moments later. Then Edgar popped Penn with a couple of strikes quickly in a style reminiscent of their last fight, and moved out of danger. He continued along those lines until Penn landed a knee. Soon after, Edgar returned fire with a hard takedown. Though Penn got up quickly, he ate a knee for his efforts. And for the rest of the round, Edgar did exactly what he did last time. He connected with punches (sometimes kicks) and then got out of the way of the slower Penn.
Edgar wins round one.
Penn started round two by landing a low kick. From there, he connected with a couple of mild punches, then a nice left hook, followed by a right. Edgar connected with a body kick. Upon a clinch, Edgar landed a nice knee to the face. Edgar connected with a low kick, then a punch. And basically, that striking/boxing style of Edgar's continued to work until he took Penn down with a little over two minutes to go in the stanza. Penn got up, but the New Jersey native's striking advantage continued until the bell.
It's 2-0 Edgar.
For the entire third round, Edgar landed kicks and punches in combination on Penn. Penn almost already seems defeated, out of energy. Edgar is literally taking him to school.
Penn needs a stoppage in order to win.
But then came round four, and a moment of hope for "The Prodigy". Along with this, Penn took Edgar down quickly when the New Jersey fighter found himself too upright and off balance. Edgar managed to gain the full guard. And then, despite what many would've been thought of as a terrible position, he got up. That's when Edgar began picking his adversary apart again, including a Lyoto Machida like karate sweep. Following him to the ground, the UFC lightweight champion laid some significant ground and pound on Penn before "The Prodigy" finally got up. Then came the same medicine that Edgar had given him the entire fight until the bell.
Frank Edgar is pitching a shutout going into the last round.
Early in the final stanza, Penn shot in and took Edgar down. Edgar gained the full guard position and then tried to get up. While doing so, Penn nearly took his back, but Edgar fought through the problem. In fact, he ended up on top of Penn and rained down ground and pound until about the 1:30 mark of the round. From there, Edgar simply beat him up on his feet in the same fashion he had all night long.
Frank Edgar defeats BJ Penn by unanimous decision. That first fight was no fluke; it was proven tonight.
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