Max Holloway earns unanimous decision nod over Frankie Edgar
Frankie Edgar may be known as “The Answer,” but it was UFC featherweight king Max Holloway who knew all the answers required to defend his championship against the New Jersey native on Saturday night in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Former UFC lightweight champion Edgar brought his usual all-action style to Holloway, but the Hawaiian expertly avoided danger and landed his own offense in slick, veteran fashion.
Holloway perfectly executed the jab to stop Edgar’s famed blitz style. And when Edgar would launch forward to attack while avoiding the jab, “Blessed” had a stinging right uppercut waiting for him on the inside.
Outmanoeuvred on the feet, Edgar didn’t have much luck in the grappling stakes either.
Holloway’s takedown defence was on point, only landing on the mat once as Edgar attempted 12+ and slickly avoiding the clinch whenever required.
The judges rightly called the fight for Holloway over five rounds, awarding him 50-45 (x2) 48-47 scores from cageside.
Holloway has now won 14 of his last 15 fights and boosts his claim to be the greatest featherweight to ever compete in the sport.
Cyborg beats Felicia Spencer over five rounds in women’s MMA classic
To say Felicia Spencer is tough as nails would be a disservice.
Cris Cyborg rebounded from her shocking loss against Amanda Nunes – her first in over a decade – with a unanimous decision win against Spencer, but it wasn’t plain sailing for the Brazilian.
Cyborg threw everything but the kitchen sink in Edmonton, showing off her vast arsenal of strikes, but Spencer wore everything sent her way.
Punches, elbows, kicks, knees – Spencer ate it all and was totally unrelenting in trying to damage Cyborg in return.
And Spencer was successful in doing so in the first round, slicing Cyborg’s forehead open with an elbow.
However, Spencer was mostly hoping to get the fight down to the floor, but Cyborg’s takedown defence was imposing as ever.
As impressive as Spencer was, the judges’ decision was rightly given to Cyborg, who took a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 from all three judges sat cageside.
This was Cyborg’s final fight of her UFC contract. It will be interesting to see where she competes next.
UFC 240: Max Holloway vs.Frankie Edgar full results:
UFC Featherweight championship: Max Holloway def. Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision after five rounds
Women’s Featherweight: Cris Cyborg def. Felicia Spencer by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Geoff Neal def. Niko Price by TKO (punches) at 2:39 of round two
Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan def. Olivier Aubin-Mercier by by unanimous decision after three rounds
Middleweight: Krzysztof Jotko def. Marc-Andre Barriault by split decision after three rounds
Women’s Flyweight: Viviane Araujo def. Alexis Davis by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Hakeem Dawodu def. Yoshinori Horie by by TKO (head kick) at 4:09 of round three
Featherweight: Gavin Tucker def. Seung Woo Choi by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:17 of round three
Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Flyweight: Gillian Robertson def. Sarah Frota by TKO (elbows) at 4:13 of round two
Welterweight: Erik Koch def. Kyle Stewart by unanimous decision after three rounds
