Never leave it in the hands of the judges.
If you've watched Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for long, you've heard that phrase uttered countless times. President Dana White has made it famous among faithful fight fans throughout the world.
Sometimes, it just can't be helped. Two men step into the Octagon, throw everything they have at their opponent and it just isn't enough.
This was the case when UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar defended his belt against number one contender Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After five furious rounds, the judges ruled the contest a draw, a decision which pleased neither fighter.
On Saturday night (Oct. 8), Edgar and Maynard will get a chance to settle things once and for all when they square off for a rubber match at UFC 136 in Houston, Texas.
After the jump, find out how Edgar and Maynard would have scored the second bout themselves, if it had been up to them:
The most recent version of the UFC's "Countdown" show aired for the first time last night (Oct. 3) on Spike TV. During the special, an interesting segment was included.
Both Edgar and Maynard were shown watching the fight, giving their commentary and, most importantly, voicing their opinions on the exact scoring.
Fittingly (to the personalities of each fighter), Edgar was seen watching the fight at a sports bar, accompanied by a "Jersey Shore" type entourage. Maynard chose to watch the fight by himself in his kitchen.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will remember that the first round of "Edgar vs. Maynard II" began with a blistering pace. "The Bully" lived up to his nickname by stalking Edgar, beating him down with several wicked combinations and very nearly stopping his opponent several times.
Edgar was clearly uncomfortable as he was forced to re-watch the bludgeoning in front of his friends and family, one of whom even joked: "You were just trying to make Maynard look good!"
Ultimately, both fighters were honest about the outcome and came up with the same numbers. Edgar admitted that he felt Maynard easily won the round, 10-8. Maynard called it the same way.
In the second round, Maynard was open about the fact that he spent a ton of energy in the initial onslaught:
"I went back to the corner and I felt numb and a little drained. It was just the adrenaline dump. It was just...a flush. My arms and my legs were just kinda 'jellowy.'"
For this second frame, both Edgar and Maynard were still in agreement over how things went down. They concurred that Edgar did a good job stuffing Maynard's takedowns and probably won some points with his big, powerful slam.
Each scored the round 10-9 for Edgar.
The third round is where the scoring started to vary a bit. Maynard knows that he was probably outpointed in this round, but argued that the strikes (mainly the kicks) did not do any significant damage:
"His kicks, he doesn't commit on them. You know? It's a foot. It's not like he's really trying to hurt you. It's for points, I think."
Edgar believed that he did enough to take the round:
"I thought I did enough in the stand-up portion. I also finished (the round) with a guillotine. I think I did enough to win that round."
The champion gave himself round three, with a 10-9 deficit. Maynard scored it the same, but in his own favor.
In the first of the two "championship rounds," Edgar and Maynard, again, agreed on the way things went. Each believed that it was probably Edgar's best round, scoring it for "The Answer," 10-9.
In the fifth and final round, Maynard felt he did the most damage and also was the aggressor. He cited a lack of killer instinct on the part of his foe:
"For me, it didn't feel like he was trying to secure this last round. I had to chase him down, chase him down, chase him down."
Edgar didn't see it exactly the same:
"In the last 30 seconds, we were really swinging for the fences, both of us...
...I think if you look at CompuStrike, I landed more strikes than him. So, uh, I get the nod."
Edgar gave himself the last round, 10-9. Maynard believed he landed more power shots, thus giving himself the round, 10-9.
In the end, each fighter believed that they won the fight, with a margin of 48-46.
So what do you think, Maniacs? They can't both be right. Who scored this bout correctly?
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