UFC 118: Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn Review
At UFC 118 on Aug. 28, B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar faced off once again. At UFC 112, Frankie Edgar beat B.J. Penn by decision to win the UFC Lightweight championship. Leading up to the rematch, Penn had vowed that he would be more aggressive and try to finish Edgar.
Penn stayed true to his word, as he came out very aggressive in the first round. The difference in speed was immediately obvious, though, as Edgar used his excellent hand speed and footwork to move in and out of Penn’s range, out-striking him at nearly every turn. Edgar also managed to take him down, although Penn immediately got back up.
The first 3 rounds played out exactly the same, with Edgar using his speed to get the better of every exchange. While it was obvious that Edgar did not have a lot of power in his hands, his excellent speed made up for that. Finally, in the 4th round, Penn got his first takedown, but was unable to do anything with it. In the last two rounds, Penn took Edgar down twice, but was unable to keep him there for more than a few seconds.
In the end, Edgar’s speed and takedowns were simply too much for Penn. Edgar connected with 142 strikes compared to Penn’s 56. The judges were impressed with Edgar’s performance, as all three judges scored the fight 50-45. This was a rematch that lived up to the expectations, but B.J. Penn simply had no answer for Frankie Edgar’s speed.
