They ushered the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division out of the B.J. Penn era and helped clear a path for the next generation.
Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard confronted one another three times between April 2, 2008 and Oct. 8, 2011, as their action-packed rivalry thrilled the masses and determined the direction of the 155-pound weight class. Perhaps it was fitting that their head-to-head series wrapped at 1-1-1. Now more than a decade removed from their final encounter, the two men remain interminably linked by what took place between them inside the cage.
As their rivalry continues to drift into the rearview mirror, a by-the-numbers look at what made Edgar vs. Maynard so unforgettable:
1,284: Days between the first and third Edgar-Maynard meetings. Maynard took a three-round unanimous decision from Edgar at UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008, then fell short in the two rematches that followed. They fought to a split draw at UFC 125 in January 2011 before Edgar put away Maynard with fourth-round punches at UFC 136 in October 2011.
495,000: Buys for the two pay-per-views headlined by Edgar-Maynard. UFC 125 drew 270,000 purchases, while UFC 136 garnered 225,000 of them. Their first encounter served as the co-feature at UFC Fight Night 13, playing second fiddle to the showdown between Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon on Spike TV.
16,164: Fans to witness the third chapter of the Edgar-Maynard rivalry in the UFC 136 main event at the Toyota Center in Houston. It was the highest attendance figure of the trilogy and generated a $2,230,000 live gate.
3,534: Seconds of fight time in the Edgar-Maynard series. They battled one another inside the Octagon for a total of 58:54—the equivalent of nearly 12 full rounds.
364: Total strikes landed by Edgar and Maynard in their trilogy. Their second encounter accounted for more than half of them (190).
3: Submission attempts between Edgar and Maynard in their three bouts. Edgar was responsible for two of them, while Maynard tallied one.
50: Significant strikes by which Edgar outlanded Maynard in their trilogy. He connected with 182 such strikes while absorbing only 132 in return.
12: Takedowns completed by Maynard at Edgar’s expense, having done so with a 41% accuracy rate (12-for-29). Edgar, meanwhile, whiffed on 23 of his 27 attempts against the former Michigan State University standout.
5: Knockdowns recorded by the two lightweights in their three-fight series. Maynard accounted for four of them but failed to procure a stoppage. Edgar floored “The Bully” in the fourth round of their final confrontation and ultimately closed him out with punches.
.429: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men following the completion of their rivalry. Edgar fought 19 times and compiled a 9-10 record, with victories over Penn, Cub Swanson (twice), Charles Oliveira, Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Jeremy Stephens, Yair Rodriguez and Pedro Munhoz. Maynard went 3-6 across his nine appearances, as he defeated Clay Guida, Fernando Bruno and Teruto Ishihara.
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