Frankie Edgar

Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera

Round 1
The hits keep right on coming, we hope you’re not worn out from what you’ve witnessed the last several fights. Former lightweight champion and multiple-time featherweight title challenger Edgar (24-9-1, 18-9-1 UFC) will answer the call at the age of 40 against furious Ecuadorian striker Vera (17-7-1, 11-6 UFC). Although Vera will clock in 12 years his opponent’s junior, he is not taking Edgar lightly, and referee Todd Anderson will have his work cut out for him in the next 15 minutes. Vera crawls out of his corner like Jon Jones, and because of this, there is no glove touch. Instead, when Vera stands up, they start trading. Edgar walks Vera down and slugs him in the face with a right hand, and Edgar shoots in for a takedown from afar. Edgar lands a left, and then another, and he walks through a leg kick so that he can keep punching. Vera sticks his tongue out as he stalks Edgar, and Edgar greets him with punches. Vera is struggling to find his range as Edgar gets in and out of range in time, popping Vera with strikes and escaping before counters find him. Edgar catches a leg kick, and he dives in for a takedown. When Edgar hits it, Vera defends with a guillotine choke on his back, but with Vera flat on his back, there is no choke set up. Vera bucks Edgar back to his full guard, and he closes it around the former champ. Edgar breaks the posture by pumping up and down, and he slashes with vicious elbows right on the nose. Vera lets rip several elbows from his back to make Edgar honest, and chants for “Let’s go, Frankie” rain down in the arena. Vera defends successfully with hacking elbows, and Edgar sits up every so often to land some ground-and-pound. Edgar fights off a possible armbar setup to land strikes, and when he stands up, Vera starts spamming upkicks. Edgar masterfully dodges most of the strikes before dropping back down into Vera’s guard, and he begins to batter Vera with more elbows. “Chito” has his guard closed for the most part, but Edgar lands strikes from above until the horn sounds. When Edgar stands up, Vera kicks him in the face illegally, and Edgar protests.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Edgar
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Edgar
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Edgar

Round 2
Vera practically sprints out of his corner to engage, but he does not throw much in the first 20 seconds. The Ecuadorian gets off an inside leg kick, and he pops Edgar in the face to draw a little swelling around Edgar’s left eye. Vera is sharp with his hands as he gives chase, and he lands a body kick right before Edgar charges him. When the former champ rushes in, he throws a combination and gets clipped with a counter on the way out, but he is no worse for wear. Vera steps in with a knee, and Edgar’s eyes light up as he grabs his opponent’s leg and throws him down to the canvas. Edgar stacks Vera up in a high guard to keep him from defending or getting any upkicks off, all while slapping him in the face with hammerfists. Edgar comfortably sits down to land strikes, but Vera suddenly somersaults backwards to break the posture and stand back up. When back upright, Vera runs after Edgar to lay into him with strikes. “Chito” throws a kick, and Edgar grabs it but cannot punish him for this strike by taking him down. Vera pulls his leg back, and he takes an uppercut to the chops. Vera eats a few body shots so that he can knee Edgar in the face, and he is making Edgar retreat constantly as he peppers the midsection with front kicks. Vera scores a solid knee to make Edgar do a little flip on the ground to fall down and get back to his feet, and when he gets back up, Vera punches him in the face. Edgar lands a single leg kick, and Vera raises his arms in the air to taunt him, which allows Edgar to kick him two more times down low. Edgar sits down on a right hand, and he swipes with a hook to make Vera take a step back. Vera turns around and lands a back kick, and he blasts Edgar in the face with an elbow to put Edgar on rubber legs. Vera gets off a head kick, and he tries to finish the job, but he cannot because the round ends. Both bantamweights exchange words, and Vera flips him off as Anderson separates them.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Vera
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Vera
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Vera

Round 3
Vera attacks first to start of the final round, with long, rangy punches and front kicks. Vera scores a punch, and Edgar returns fire with a one-two. Edgar has a head kick clatter off the body, Vera is on him to land power shots. Vera stabs the midsection with a kick, and he turtles up when Edgar unloads on him. A leg kick from Vera makes Edgar back off, and “Chito” turns to plant a side kick on Edgar’s torso. Edgar has a takedown stuffed, and he walks into a right hand and an uppercut. Vera lets rip with a leg kick, and Edgar tags him with four punches to the body before retreating. Edgar gets marked up with a sharp uppercut, and Vera is taking it to him and making Edgar constantly backpedal. Vera’s body kick gets through, and Edgar returns fire with a short combination. The power differential is far in the favor of the Ecuadorian at this point, but Edgar is more content to land with volume while Vera is looking for the one-hitter quitter. One punch knocks Edgar’s mouthpiece out, and Anderson runs over to replace it as Vera gives a cheeky look and shrug to the camera. Edgar gets rocked by a left hand, and he catches a rampaging Vera by hitting a takedown and putting him on the ground. “Chito” powers his way back up to his feet in an instant, and he breaks the grip to line up a right hand. They both throw hands in the pocket, and Vera steps back to unleash a front kick reminiscent of Anderson Silva booting Vitor Belfort in the face. Edgar’s legs disintegrate beneath him as he falls face-first to the mat, and Vera gets off a hammerfists or two before Anderson can sprint in to halt the fight. Edgar protests the stoppage, but considering he was out on his feet when he stood up and nearly fell over walking to his corner, it appears to have been the right call. They settle their in-cage beef after the fight concludes, and show some respect to one another after a fun melee.

The Official Result
Marlon Vera def. Frankie Edgar R3 3:50 via KO (Front Kick)

Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens

Round 1
Stephens sprawls on Edgar’s first double-leg attempt and makes the former titleholder pay with a kick to the body as they separate. Edgar shoots again but can’t get deep enough to complete the takedown. Edgar moves around outside of Stephens’ punching range, testing the distance with speedy jabs while Stephens swings murderous hooks. Edgar catches a kick and puts a chop on Stephens’ planted leg, then runs the Iowan against the fence with a loose headlock. The New Jerseyan drops for a single-leg, defended well by Stephens, who widens his base against the wall. Edgar lifts and slaps Stephens, but the “Lil Heathen” springs back to his feet. The sequence repeats, Edgar staying glued to Stephens’ waist all the while. Stephens breaks up the clinch by threatening with a knee, then rakes a hand across Edgar’s face in the ensuing exchange. Referee Keith Peterson pauses the fight with one minute left in the round; Edgar says he doesn’t want the doctor, just for Stephens to keep his hands closed. The action resumes but the featherweights produce little in the way of meaningful offense down the stretch.

Sherdog Scores
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Edgar
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Edgar
Mike Sloan scores the round 10-9 Edgar

Round 2
Edgar throws a right hand to the body of Stephens, but the punch slips low and lands on Stephens’ cup. After a few seconds to recover, Stephens is back to work, walking forward on the local Tri-State favorite. Edgar changes levels to try another takedown, spins to a rear waistlock and dumps Stephens to the mat. Stephens posts and stands against the fence, then digs an underhook and breaks away. Edgar comes over the top with a straight right hand, then backpedals away as Stephens launches a right high kick. Suddenly, a switch kick from Stephens lands square on the jaw of Edgar, knocking him to the canvas. Edgar powers back to his feet and tries to slow the assault with a shot, but Stephens shoves him away and pushes forward with heavy punches. Stephens clips his wounded opponent with a left hook, then another; Edgar looked wobbly for a moment, but he seems to have regained his footing with 1:40 left in the round. Edgar is doing well to evade Stephens’ big punches down the stretch, and with one minute remaining, “The Answer” explodes into a powerful takedown. Edgar tries a mounted guillotine, but he can’t get underneath Stephens’ chin. Edgar is going for the choke again with 10 seconds left, hops back to mount, but Stephens won’t tap. Edgar releases the choke and postures up to drop a pair of elbows before the horn.

Sherdog Scores
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Stephens
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Edgar
Mike Sloan scores the round 10-9 Stephens

Round 3
Stephens chops at Edgar with a hard low kick, but Edgar catches the leg and converts it to a takedown just a few feet away from the fence. Edgar postures up and works some short ground-and-pound from half guard, but Stephens gets hold of his opponent’s left arm and works a kimura from the bottom. Edgar gets Stephens to release the arm after dropping a couple hard elbows on his face, and now it’s Edgar shifting to try and take the kneeling Stephens’ back. Edgar gets one hook but the cage is preventing his right leg from getting through. Stephens stands up for a split second, only to be hurled back to the ground, where he continues to defend his back from Edgar’s advances. Stephens stands again and finally separates from Edgar with just over two minutes on the clock. Stephens walks straight at Edgar, connects with an overhand right but can’t find a follow-up. Edgar grabs for a single-leg, gets denied by Stephens, who fends off another takedown try a few seconds later. Stephens is marching on Edgar, trying to close the distance and do some damage as the final minute ticks away. Edgar eats a right hook but seems unfazed, and he continues to fire punches back at Stephens down to the final horn.

Sherdog Scores
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Edgar (29-28 Edgar)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Edgar (30-27 Edgar)
Mike Sloan scores the round 10-9 Edgar (29-28 Edgar)

The Official Result
Frankie Edgar def. Jeremy Stephens via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) R3 5:00