Edgar dominates Penn, Couture destroys Toney at UFC 118

Source: By Dave Deibert | http://www.vancouversun.com/

Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Randy Couture could have a future as a fortune teller.

The UFC Hall-of-Famer told the world how his co-main event at UFC 118 versus future boxing Hall-of-Famer James Toney would go: takedown, beat him down. It took all of three minutes, 19 seconds at TD Garden in Boston Saturday night for Couture to make his prediction come true. The former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ wasted no time ruining the mixed-martial-arts debut of the former boxing world champion, choking him out just past the midway point of the first round in front of a raucous, pro-MMA crowd.

“This is exactly what I trained to do,” said Couture (19-10).

He said he had been working on the finishing move — an arm triangle — for well over a year. If the finish looked familiar to fight fans, there’s a reason why: it was the exact choke current UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar used to beat challenger Shane Carwin in July — a finish Lesnar developed after spending time training with Couture.

Following the match, Couture paid respect to Toney, the trash-talking boxer who backed up his words and got into the octagon. Toney told anyone who would listen — including UFC Dana White, who granted Toney’s wish to fight in UFC — that he had the power to knock out Couture no matter what discipline of fighting the match took place under. At the same time, Couture said the nine months Toney spent training “is real short order to pick up everything you need to know.”

Couture needed just 15 seconds to get a feel for Toney’s stance before shooting for his legs and using his Olympic-caliber wrestling to take him to the mat. Couture spent two minutes ground-and-pounding Toney before looking for the submission. Toney fought off the first choke attempt but once Couture locked it in, Toney had no choice but to tap.

It capped a fantastic August for Couture, who co-starred in the Hollywood blockbuster The Expendables — which has spent two weeks atop the North American box office.

Said Couture, with a grin: “I’ve had a hell of a month.”

Edgar beats Penn, retains lightweight title

Frankie Edgar heard the critics call his first win over BJ Penn a fluke, a bad judges decision, pure luck. With a masterful performance at UFC 118, he proved them all wrong.

For the second time in four months, Edgar defeated the man considered by many — including Edgar himself — to be the greatest lightweight in the history of MMA. After winning a hotly-contested decision at UFC 112 in April, Edgar was much more dominant at UFC 118 in Boston, leaving no doubt there’s a new king in the division.

“I just wanted to make that point,” said Edgar (13-1).

“I feel like I could walk on water.”

All three judges scored Saturday’s match 50-45. After putting on the greatest performance of his life in April to beat Penn once, Edgar topped himself in Boston.

“He really brought the best out of me,” said Edgar.

Much like the first fight, Penn (15-7-1) had little answer for Edgar’s speed and movement. Edgar’s confidence was at an all-time high coming into the match and it appeared to grow with each passing moment at UFC 118. Though Penn had a few moments of control in the fourth and fifth rounds, virtually the entire 25-minute match was dominated by Edgar.

All three judges scored the match 50-45.

“Frankie fought a great fight. He’s the man. I got nothing bad to say. I fought him twice. He walked away with the decision twice,” said a visibly disappointed Penn.

“I’ve really got to go back and think about things.”

In other pay-per-view matches at UFC 118:

- Demian Maia (13-2) took his first step back up the middleweight ladder, easily defeating Mario Miranda (12-2) via unanimous decision in Maia’s first match since losing a title shot versus Anderson Silva in April.

All three judges scored the match 30-27.

- Gray Maynard (10-0, 1 NC) earned his first shot at the UFC lightweight title, at the same time denying a third crack at the belt for Boston native Kenny Florian (14-5). Maynard used his wrestling to dominate the final 11 minutes of the bout, winning a unanimous decision over a heartbroken Florian to determine the division’s No. 1 contender.

Two judges scored the match 30-27, while the third had it 29-28.

“Feeling good, man. Really glad I finally get to the spot where I get the chance at the belt,” said Maynard.

- Nate Diaz (13-5) continued to rise up the welterweight ranks, putting on a clinic against hometown favourite Marcus Davis (17-7). Diaz turned the right side of Davis’s face into a scene from a horror movie before eventually choking the Maine native out at 4:02 of the third round.

“I feel good,” said Diaz. “Marcus Davis is a hell of a fighter.”

In preliminary matches at UFC 118:

- Getting a superstar reaction from the crowd, Joe Lauzon (18-5) put on a superstar performance in the ring. He needed just 2:01 to lock in an armbar and submit Gabe Ruediger (17-6) in a lightweight affair.

- Nik Lentz (21-3-2) was awarded a unanimous decision over Andre Winner (12-4-1) in a lightweight bout. Two judges scored the match 30-27 while the third had it 29-28.

- Putting an end to a three-match losing streak, Dan Miller (12-4, 1 NC) choked out John Salter (5-2) at 1:53 of the second round in their middleweight bout.

- Overcoming a massive first-round cut, Greg Soto (8-1) earned a unanimous decision over Nick Osipczak (5-3) in a welterweight contest. All three judges scored the match 29-28.

- Mike Pierce (11-3) dominated from start to finish his welterweight bout against Amilcar Alves (11-2), finally using a kimura to earn the submission win at 3:11 of the third round.

ddeibert@sp.canwest.com

Twitter.com/davedeibert

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