Storylines That Emerged From UFC 125

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Navy football coach Eddie Erdelatz once said, “a tie is like kissing your sister.”

Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard and Anthony Pettis can relate.

After 25 minutes of compelling action, Edgar and Maynard’s UFC lightweight title bout had everything one could want in a championship contest: a fast start, shifts in momentum, double gut-check moments and eminent replay value. It had everything, really, except a decision denoting a winner and loser.

So, the UFC is going to do it again.

WEC champ Pettis, who anticipated a fight against the victor, will either have to wait until mid-2011 or keep busy in a division where there are precious few tune-up opponents available. While it might seem a good idea to keep the white-hot Pettis busy until Edgar-Maynard III plays out, just ask featherweight contender Josh Grispi how that type of situation can play out.

With that in mind, here are five relevant storylines that emerged from Saturday’s UFC 125.

Edgar-Maynard II: Sometimes Draws Make Sense

For reasons too complex to elucidate here, the sporting public seems to hate draws. There is something about an inconclusive finish -- whether the judges’ scorecards in a fight or an ambiguous movie ending -- that rubs most of us raw. In the case of MMA, it seems as though most of us feel that we deserve some definitive closure after watching two men fight, hence the general sour mood when a draw materializes.

Sometimes, though, a draw can be exactly the correct call. Edgar Maynard II was one of them. Aside from the unfortunate side-effect of delaying Pettis’ title bout against the winner, the outcome was rightful and fitting. Maynard drummed Edgar in the first round, nearly stopping him, and earned 10-8 scores from all three judges. Edgar rallied back like a true champion, showing that rare blend of resolve and tenacity which separates the talented from the great.

Both men made adjustments and were virtually running on empty in the final round, which was special because everyone watching knew the fight was riding on those final five minutes. It would have been a shame for either man to lose that fight, if for no other reason than that it would have sparked endless debates over an already murkily-defined MMA scoring system.

Deserved draws are a rare thing in combat sports, but this was one of them. Given the surprisingly good fight that ensued between two decision-heavy fighters, a third match is immediately viable from a promotional angle. How many would have thought that possible heading into the bout?

The ‘Truth’ Remains a Mystery

Losses are always hard to deal with, but the sight of Brandon Vera’s grim, dented visage after his one-sided thumping at the hands of Thiago Silva showed just the kind of tough luck that the fight game can deal out, no matter how talented you are.

Since his breakout heavyweight streak in 2005-2006, Vera’s stock has been in a puzzling decline. After dropping to 205 pounds following losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum, Vera has been far less impressive, going 3-4, including losses in his last three outings. The well-rounded mix of grappling and striking which he showed at heavyweight has, for whatever reason, not translated into the dominance most expected at light heavyweight.

Against Silva, Vera showed flashes of his former self, delivering slamming kicks and the kind of eye-popping standup prowess that made him a phenomenon. Yet he continued to make mistakes, leaving himself in tie-ups that allowed Silva to take him down and grind him to bits while his coaches urged him to avoid doing precisely that.

Vera opened the third round by knocking Silva flat on his back with a bodacious body kick, but instead of pouncing, Vera stood there and admired his work. The opportunity slipped away, as Silva got back to his feet and took Vera down moments later, and resumed the tedious beating. It’s one thing to do that when you’re dominating a fight; it’s quite another when your sole opportunity in a fight materializes and you fritter it away. The old Vera would have jumped in to finish the bout.

Vera is a talented fighter who can still compete and be effective against a certain class of competition. The big question is whether the UFC will use him in that fashion, or now deploy him as a litmus test for rising contenders. A lot of fighters who were top-ranked three or four years ago are facing the same questions, but Vera never really reached the top before being knocked back down. And that may be a harder blow than any he took Saturday night.

Stann, Guida Prove Value of Game Planning

It would be tough to find a group of fighters with a better track record of game planning than those trained by Greg Jackson. While it’s a natural reflex to compare pedigrees in the various disciplines that comprise MMA, the game plan itself can be woefully overlooked.

Stann used just enough movement to land big shots on Chris Leben prior to scoring an impressive opening-round stoppage, a feat only Anderson Silva had been able to accomplish against the hard-nosed “Crippler.” Guida, meanwhile, used herky-jerky movement to both out-strike and out-wrestle Gomi. Both fighters used tactical approaches to minimize their opponents’ strengths while applying their own.

These fights exemplify why Rashad Evans should not be counted out in his title challenge against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua next month. Simply having Jackson and his knack for game planning in his corner makes Evans a viable challenger, especially
in a five-round fight.

Solid Refereeing, Judging on Display at UFC 125

While fans and pundits are quick to point out questionable scoring and officiating, equal props should be given when judges and referees do their jobs correctly.

Edgar was completely dominated in the first stanza of the main event. Maynard had the champion in trouble on multiple occasions, and referee Yves Lavigne was seemingly one big punch away from stopping the fight at several points, even if Edgar wasn’t out cold. It was a textbook 10-8 round, and all three judges correctly identified it as such.

Meanwhile, in the cage, Josh Rosenthal’s stoppage of Stann-Leben was an excellent example of a referee walking the fine line between protecting a fighter and letting a fight be finished properly. Stann had Leben floored and then dove in for a follow-up flurry. Leben got to his feet, was pounded some more, and then crumpled to the canvas after eating a huge knee to the face.

Rosenthal hovered nearby, watching Leben closely. When Stann landed a string of shots on the grounded Leben, irrevocably settling the affair, Rosenthal promptly waved it off. It was a perfect example of the kind of officiating that MMA requires. Quick stoppages are easy to justify, but an experienced ref can keep a cool head and watch a losing fighter’s eyes to determine whether or not he’s still cognizant.

Rosenthal’s stoppage allowed Stann to get a clear-cut win, while fans were spared from controversy. The slightest whit of debatable stoppage in a Leben bout would have caused an uproar, and rightfully so, given his track record.

As Bernard Hopkins said, “you don’t ‘play’ boxing.” The same goes for MMA, and kudos to Rosenthal for letting the chapter write itself out, without pulling the trigger too soon.

Jason Probst can be contacted at [email protected] or twitter.com/jasonprobst.