MANILA, Philippines - Frankie Edgar won his rematch with former champion BJ Penn, pulling off a unanimous decision to retain his lightweight crown in UFC 118 in Boston Saturday.
UFC living legend Randy Couture stole the spotlight after he overpowered former boxing champion James Toney, who tapped out after getting a beating just a little over three minutes gone in the first round of their non-titled heavyweight bout.
Edgar’s victory over Penn was in contrast of their first encounter that ended to a unanimous decision win by the former, who snatched the lightweight title.
But this time, Edgar showed who’s better in the division as he dominated Penn, who appeared frustrated at times after getting takedowns from his more determined foe.
“I want to thank BJ, he truly brought the best out of me,” said Edgar, who got scores of 50-45 from all judges.
It was Edgar’s 13th win against a loss while Penn absorbed his seventh setback against 15 wins.
“Frankie fought a great fight, he’s the man,” Penn said. “Much respect.”
It was, however, the Couture-Toney fight that generated more interest where it showcased what would happen if a boxer gets out of the square ring and into the Octagon.
Couture, a UFC Hall of Famer out to regain the heavyweight crown, beat Toney, a 41-year-old retired boxer fighting for the first time in the UFC, via a first-round submission.
“This was exactly what I trained to do,” said Couture.
Just 15 seconds into their fight, Couture eliminated Toney’s dangerous punching power with a take down and hammered away with one haymaker after another to fashion out the one-sided win.
Midway through the round, Couture, on full mount now, delivered the killer move-an arm triangle choke that saw Toney wave to the referee, not knowing that he was supposed to tap out as signal that he is quitting.