An Immediate Rematch Between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard

[Tech N9ne]

Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com conducted an interview with UFC President Dana White following last night's 125 PPV. White blasted UFC referee Steve Mazzagatti and labeled him the worst referee in UFC history. White then announced that Gray Maynard will get an immediate rematch from the 125 PPV against Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. Anthony Pettis, the number one contender to the Lightweight Title, will face the winner of the rematch for the belt.

To say a referee is the WORST in the history of the UFC. Dana White was obviously pissed. I guess he saw the 1st Round the same way I did and also the way a lot of people saw it. The fight basically should have been stopped. Edgar was basically "out" on his feet. He was falling all over the Octagon and really wasn't defending himself intelligently.

Gray Maynard was measuring his shots while standing, and dropping bombs when he grounded and then pounded Edgar.

I guess that goes to show you need to completely KO a dude to leave no doubt out there. Sometimes a guy thinks he did enough to win a fight and the judges saw it differently. Sometimes a judge sees a fight differently than the majority of people watching it.

It was a great fight. Much better than I actually expected. I really thought that fight going the distance, would end up being pretty boring. I was pleasantly surprised though.

So a rematch is really the only way to go. If Maynard wins, Edgar might just drop down in weight and face Jose Aldo. That would be his 3rd fight with Maynard that he failed to win. So with Maynard holding the title, the only logical direction for Frankie Edgar would be to move down a Weight Class.

If Edgar wins, and moves on to beat Anthony Pettis. This rivalry could possibly come down to a 4th fight "rubber match" (One win for each and a tie).

That would have to rank up there as a pretty epic rivalry and maybe one of the best rivalries in the history of MMA!

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Dude, did you watch the fight? Yves Lavigne was the referee of the Edgar / Maynard match - NOT Steve Mazzagatti. These two news stories are totally separate, though the source just did a poor job of deliniating that.

White's comments about Mazzagatti I THINK came after the Lesnar / Mir fight and he was confirming them. Steve Mazz would have stopped the Edgar / Maynard fight after 4 punches landed. Guys like Lavigne, Yamasaki, and Herb Dean tend to let the fighters go a little.

I credit Lavigne with a job well done in the main event Saturday.

I also think that "Big" John McCarthy is worse than Steve Mazzagatti. He was the king of the bad stoppage. For my money, if I had to choose the ref for the biggest fight of the year, I'd take Herb Dean.

 

[Tech N9ne]

Dude, did you watch the fight? Yves Lavigne was the referee of the Edgar / Maynard match - NOT Steve Mazzagatti. These two news stories are totally separate, though the source just did a poor job of deliniating that.

White's comments about Mazzagatti I THINK came after the Lesnar / Mir fight and he was confirming them. Steve Mazz would have stopped the Edgar / Maynard fight after 4 punches landed. Guys like Lavigne, Yamasaki, and Herb Dean tend to let the fighters go a little.

I credit Lavigne with a job well done in the main event Saturday.

I also think that "Big" John McCarthy is worse than Steve Mazzagatti. He was the king of the bad stoppage. For my money, if I had to choose the ref for the biggest fight of the year, I'd take Herb Dean.

Of course I watched the fight. I don't remember who was the referee at this point. I was paying more attention to the fight. I thought it was tying one story into the other as far as the match went. I thought it was over in the first round, so it seemed likely.

Anyway, the main point of it was the announcing of the immediate rematch. For me, that was the main point. But yeah, A long rivalry seems ahead of them, especially if Edgar ends up winning this next rematch.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Yeah the way the story was reported did seem to suggest that Dana's comments about Mazzagatti were a result of the first round of the Edgar / Maynard battle. Not the case, but glad that's cleared up.

The immediate rematch is absolutely noteworthy, you're correct. It put Pettis in a bad spot, but who cares? He beat a solid Lightweight in Ben Henderson, but aside from that, he's known because of the internet video / sports center highlight of his off-the-cage kick. MMA Fans want / need to see a rematch between the two men who just went to war over the title.

I think about it this way - Pettis aside, this draw was the BEST thing to happen. Look at the other divisions:

Welterweight - has been dominated by GSP. Not close.

Middleweight - has been dominsated by Silva. Only close in his last fight.

Light Heavyweight - champion was been hurt, finally scheduled to defend.

Heavyweight - champion just got hurt, no word on potential interim title.

There is an absence of storyline competition from ANY other weight class right now, so the fact that the lightweight division is giving us this sort of action is imperative.

 

[The Bearded One]

There is an absence of storyline competition from ANY other weight class right now, so the fact that the lightweight division is giving us this sort of action is imperative.

The second after the draw was announced, I told my friend Vince McMahon couldn't have booked it any more perfectly. The challenger looked strong by almost knocking out the champion. The champion looked strong by taking the early beating and then actually winning a majority of the fight in my opnion. The draw was the perfect way to end this fight.

But I don't think an immediate rematch is the right thing to do. Maynard didn't win or lose in a controversial fashion, which is the only way I think an immediate rematch should be granted. While he did take the champion to the brink of victory, he was unable to finish the job. So while I thought that their match was great, he shouldn't get an immediate rematch. Pettis should get Edgar next and Maynard should get the winner of that fight. That seems like the most fair way to do this.

Unless, you know, they have the first ever Triple Threat in MMA history.

 

[jmt225]

So, IC, looks like you're finally coming around and agreeing with me that the Lightweight Division is the best in MMA, yes?

Anyways, I agree with everyone... immediate rematch is the way to go.

It's just a damn shame that Gomi lost his fight, because I'm certain they would have pitted him against Pettis next and that would have been the #1 Contendership fight for the winner of Maynard/Edgar 3. Damn.

But yeah... I never thought Pettis deserved a shot, anyway. His last fight was impressive, and the kid is a lot of fun to watch, but I'm not impressed with his caliber of opponents at this point. He needs one more win to earn that title shot. Whether it's against Guida, or even someone like Florian, then so be it. But he needs one more win, no doubt.

I just hope Edgar vs. Maynard 3 is able to live up to the hype of the 2nd fight. It's going to be hard, but as long as both show up as they did last Saturday, then we'll no doubt be in for another epic war. Looking forward to it...

 

[IrishCanadian25]

So, IC, looks like you're finally coming around and agreeing with me that the Lightweight Division is the best in MMA, yes?

Getting there. In all fairness, with my hectic schedule, I only have time for one wrestling promoton (WWE) and one MMA promotion (UFC). So I never saw what WEC had to offer. The Lightweight Division has become the 'it' division in UFC the way the little guys have taken over boxing. I'm really riveted by the Lightweights right now.

It's just a damn shame that Gomi lost his fight, because I'm certain they would have pitted him against Pettis next and that would have been the #1 Contendership fight for the winner of Maynard/Edgar 3. Damn.

It's not a shame. Because the wife an I LOVE Clay Guida. Guida beat Gomi. Give Pettis vs Gomi a shot on the undercard of Maynard / Edgar 3, and that way we know at night's end what the next time match will be.

Even though I do agree that Guida is likely looking at a match with Ben Henderson.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

This is definitely the right move to do. Let's just hope the 3rd installment brings the same type of fight as we just seen. I don't think there was anyone who predicted these two were gonna have a war like that. I just fear that with the way these to beat the crap out of each other, that they might be a little more conservative this time around.

Now as for Pettis, He recently said that with his time off he was thinking of going to train with Bellator's Welterweight champ Joe Askren, which would highly benefit him for either Edgar or Maynard. We might see him actually get a fight too, I think it all depends on how long it takes for Maynard and Edgar to heal and get their next fight booked. Edgar is technically suspended until July 1st with a nasal fracture, but as always he can be cleared earlier. If it is awhile before Edgar/Maynard goes down, then I can see Pettis fighting the winner out of either Sotiropoulos/Siver or Miller/Shalorus.

 

[Dressler]

Well like everyone else has said, Edgar-Maynard III was a must, lock, shoe-in, no shit decision if there ever was one. And I dont think I can really say much more to add to the discussion at this point that someone has already said other then this: Edgar wins next time, no doubt.

As for the rest of the Lightweight picture jmt you said something about you hoped Gomi would of beat Guida so he could face Pettis in a Number 1 Contenders Fight? Then by that logic shouldn't Guida be given a shot at Pettis for the right to fight the winner of Edgar vs Maynard III? In my opinion Guida has done more then Gomi has in the last 3 fights, 3 wins, Gomi is 1-2 all be it against a bit stiffer competition then Guida but still.

Not saying by any means that Guida should get a title shot yet, but if you're pointing out that Gomi if he had beaten Guida should get that type of fight, then put Guida in there instead, I think it would be a great fight between Guida and Pettis.

 

[jmt225]

As for the rest of the Lightweight picture jmt you said something about you hoped Gomi would of beat Guida so he could face Pettis in a Number 1 Contenders Fight? Then by that logic shouldn't Guida be given a shot at Pettis for the right to fight the winner of Edgar vs Maynard III? In my opinion Guida has done more then Gomi has in the last 3 fights, 3 wins, Gomi is 1-2 all be it against a bit stiffer competition then Guida but still.

Not saying by any means that Guida should get a title shot yet, but if you're pointing out that Gomi if he had beaten Guida should get that type of fight, then put Guida in there instead, I think it would be a great fight between Guida and Pettis.

Yeah, reread my post, man. The first name I listed to potentially fight Pettis was Clay Guida:

He needs one more win to earn that title shot. Whether it's against Guida, or even someone like Florian, then so be it. But he needs one more win, no doubt.

So you see... I agree with you, Guida is the best and most deserving choice at this point, especially since George Sotiropoulos and Jim Miller are already locked up for fights.

That said, if Guida fights Pettis the same as he did Gomi, then he's getting knocked the fuck out. Guida is going to need to be relentless and ruthless against Pettis. None of that monkey shit... he's going to need to be a warrior in there to stand a chance against someone like Anthony Pettis