Frankie Edgar wins long-awaited bantamweight debut with closely-fought split decision
A few years in the making, Frankie Edgar’s long-awaited bantamweight debut didn’t disappoint as he and Pedro Munhoz put on a show in Saturday night’s headline fight.
Munhoz and Edgar fought a war of attrition as neither man wanted to concede ground in the Octagon nor on the judges’ scorecards, but it was Edgar who emerged from the cage victorious.
The former UFC lightweight champion turned back the years as he put on the kind of high pace, high volume fight we saw during his runs at 155 pounds and again in featherweight.
Edgar’s chin held up well as he would take Munhoz’s power strikes in order to land three or four in his blitzed punching combinations in return or mixing things up with a takedown.
Munhoz landed the more telling power strikes, particularly finding success in his leg kicks and looping overhands which were set up with an accurate, heavy jab.
But the two of the three judges favoured Edgar’s higher output over Munhoz’s power over five hard-fought rounds in what was a really close and entertaining contest.
Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in Edgar’s favour, while the other scored it 49-46 for Munhoz which goes to show how tight the fight was.
It wasn’t a spectacular finish or a career-defining win for Edgar, but this is a steady start to ascending up the UFC’s bantamweight rankings for “The Answer.”
UFC on ESPN: Munhoz vs Edgar full results
Bantamweight: Frankie Edgar def. Pedro Munhoz by split decision after five rounds
Light Heavyweight: Mike Rodriguez def. Marcin Prachnio by KO (elbow and punches) at 2:17 of round one
Lightweight: Joe Solecki def. Austin Hubbard by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:51 of round one
Women’s Flyweight: Shana Dobson def. Mariya Agapova by TKO (punches) at 1:38 of round two
Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez def. Dwight Grant by KO (punches) at 2:24 of round one
Women’s Strawweight: Amanda Lemos def. Mizuki Inoue by unanimous decision after three rounds
Light Heavyweight: Jordan Wright def. Ike Villanueva by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 1:31 of round one
Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger def. Carlton Minus by unanimous decision after three rounds
Catchweight: Trevin Jones def. Timur Valiev by TKO (punches) at 1:59 of round two