Max Holloway Defends His Title Against Edgar, Cris Cyborg Defeats Spencer

Max Holloway is still the UFC featherweight champion. The 27-year-old fighter has defeated his challenger Frankie Edgar this Saturday night and extended its reign in this category.

The main event of the UFC 240 brought a good fight in which Holloway (21-4 MMA, 17-4 UFC) dominated and eventually retained his belt after a unanimous decision of the judges. All of them gave the advantage to the “Blessed,” 50-45, 49-46, 48-47.

Except in the opening and one period of the third round, Holloway was much better than Edgar. During the first sequence of the match, the challenger had landed several hits, but truth to be told that is the only time when he hurt Holloway.

As the fight progressed, the champion was getting his rhythm and slowly starting to dictate the tempo and to hurt the opponent. After the match, he stated that he had a lot to prove to the doubters, who believed that Edgar’s shape is better than his.

“Everybody said I wasn’t able to wrestle with this guy,” Holloway said. “I wanted to prove a point and go five rounds with him, so I could let the world know I’m here to stay. The ‘Blessed’ express is still on the move.”

Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) became more defensive-minded in the second and suffered some hard punches which hurt his nose. The third round was critical for the 37-year-old. Holloway was on the verge of knocking him down, but the challenger somehow avoided that with a takedown in the late part of that sequence.

Nothing dramatically changed in the final two rounds, as Holloway continued to be lethal and to enlarge the difference between him and Edgar.

Following the fight, the challenger accepted his defeat, saying that his opponent was much better and that he couldn’t do much better.

“I thought I did well. I did the best I can,” Edgar said. “My hat’s off to Max. He was able to keep the tide going in certain rounds. I thought I was doing well.”

"Heartbroken" @FrankieEdgar promises he's going nowhere after falling short of UFC gold vs. Max Holloway. #UFC240 pic.twitter.com/d9ZxbqcYl7

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 28, 2019

Edgar had three title fights for the belt in the featherweight category and has suffered three losses, all of them by decision. The first two were against Jose Aldo and now came this one. But he isn’t willing to give up now.

“I’m not going nowhere,” he briefly stated at the press conference when asked about his future.

For Holloway, this happened to be the 14th consecutive featherweight victory, and a third title-defense in this category. Many doubted in his condition after the loss against Dustin Poirier some three months ago, but he proved them wrong. Having in mind that he has only 27 years, it is quite possible to see him rule this category for a long, long time.

In the co-main event of the night, Cris Cyborg defeated Felicia Spencer after a hard fight in which the challenger created a lot of trouble for the former champ. Cyborg (21-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) won on a unanimous decision, having all three judges scoring 30-27.

Spencer was showing one hell of resistance and she even severely hurt Cyborg, opening a cut on her forehead. The only thing she lacked in this fight was experience, which is why she eventually lost in the end.

Meanwhile, this was a very important match for Cyborg whose contract with the UFC expired. She wants a second chance against Amanda Nunes who brutally knocked-out her earlier, and to have one, a victory here was a must. Nunes stated that she wants to fight, and now it is all up to Dana White and the organization.

“I’m going to let the UFC talk to my manager, but I just wanted to get this victory,” Cyborg said. “I asked for a rematch after the fight.”