Newark, NJ. – If it was anyone other than the hometown kid, Frankie Edgar, this UFC crowd might have boo’ed. However, the 14,000 plus fans at the Prudential Center erupted every time Edgar took down, out wrestled and out-pointed Spencer Fisher along the way to a unanimous decision victory. It wasn’t exciting but it was a dominating performance.
“I would have stood more, (but) I felt I connected on a couple of right hands,” said Edgar after the fight. “Just the takedowns were there and I’m not going to give them up it they’re there.”
In three UFC fights, Edgar has now gone to two decisions show that along with his wrestling, his cardio might be his best weapon.
“(My) Energy was just amazing,” exclaimed Edgar. “I’ll do it again tomorrow if I have to.”
Here’s a look at the undercard:
–Akihiro Gono def. Tamdan McCrory by verbal tapout (armbar) – 3:18 rd. 2
Gono didn’t disappoint in his American debut as he danced to the Octagon in his trademark disco stroll. Tamdan McCrory set a furious pace in the first round and Gono off balance with his reach advantage. Going into the second round, Gono was down on two of the three judges’ scorecards. But in the second, Gono settled down and was able to force McCrory to verbally submit to an armbar submission.
“When I watched the video of him, when I get the mount, he always escaped the same way so I waited for him,” said Gono following his victory. “I wanted to try and chop him down with leg kicks.”
-Marcus Aurelio def. Luke Caudillo by TKO – 4:29 rd.1
When Aurelio takes an opponent to the ground, a submission is expected to follow. However, Aurelio showed in his fight with Caudillo that not only do his opponents have to watch out for the submissions, they also have to watch out for his strikes.
“I planned to take him down and ground and pound him,” said Aurelio right after the fight. “I was ready and I was waiting for the situation.”
-Joe Lauzon def. Jason Reinhardt by rear-naked-choke – 1:14 rd.1
Lauzon barely broke a sweat submitting the previously undefeated Reinhardt. It was a great win for Lauzon as the northeast fighter was able to fight in front of a large number of his followers after he recently moved to Hawaii to train with BJ Penn.
“I got probably 200 people here and when they said my name at the weigh-ins, people went nuts,” said Lauzon. “It’s great to fight in front of your friends and family.”
-Thiago Alves def. Chris Lytle by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – 5:00 rd 2.
Although this fight didn’t end the way everyone wanted it to, it was an entertaining fight. After trading shots for two rounds, Lytle and Alves were headed for a three round war. Lytle threw more strikes but Alves was more precise and consistent and opened a cut over Lytle’s left eye. During the break after round two, the doctor checked Lytle and halted the bout for his safety. Lytle protested and for what it’s worth, two of the three judges had one round a piece and one judge had it two to nothing for Alves after two rounds.
“The fight was beautiful,” said Alves after the contest. “I knew he was hurt. His leg was messed up and he got two cuts in the eye so I was saving everything for the last round. I know I was going to catch him in the last round.”
On the stoppage, Alves said, “If the doctors say you gotta stop, you gotta stop.”
Here are the rest of the pay-per-view results:
Ed Herman def. Joe Doerksen by KO – 0:39 rd. 3
Karo Parisyan def. Ryo Chonan by Unanimous Decision (all 30-27)
Thiago Silva def. Houston Alexander by TKO – 3:25 rd. 1
Rashad Evans def. Michael Bisping by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
