Scott Sawitz: This fight reminds me of the first two “Rocky” films. Gray Maynard has hit Frankie Edgar with everything he’s had and Edgar didn’t go down, in the same way Balboa gets up late in the fight after Creed hits him with the big kill-shot. He got up and taunted Creed, to give him more. When you hit a man with your best shot, and he still keeps coming, what can you do? Not much, I’m afraid. The first fight was Maynard doing his best Apollo Creed impression and Edgar kept coming. This is Rocky 2 and in that one the plucky Italian wins. Edgar by UD.
Skully Williams: I’m anticipating one of the best fights of the year at this weekends main event match up between Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard. With the history these two have you can bet each will be looking to knock each others blocks off. No way these guys plan to leave this one in the judges hands. I expect an all out war between two of the UFC’s best lightweights but feel this one will indeed go the distance. When the smoke clears though it’s going to be Grey Maynard as the last man standing; Maynard wins by a decision victory.
Jon Kirschner: This is Frankie Edgar’s chance to prove that he deserves to be the UFC Lightweight Champion. His first defense was against the man he originally defeated to win the title in BJ Penn. It was obvious that Edgar had Penn’s number in both fights, but what was also obvious is that Penn’s head was somewhere else; the welterweight division. Edgar then went on to defend the title against Gray Maynard and almost got knocked out the first round! He survived off of instinct and the bout ended in a draw. The point that I’m trying to make here is that maybe Frankie Edgar isn’t the answer everyone was looking for. Sure he beat BJ Penn twice, but Gray is a whole other animal. His striking is better and his wrestling is the best grind-em-out style in the lightweight division. I expect Maynard to walk away with a TKO in the fourth round.
Luke Cho Yee: You could pretty much toss a coin between these two as they are so evenly matched. Both are fantastic wrestlers with energy to burn and set a pace that few can contend with. Maynard holds the aces with his punching power, but Edgar has come up trumps so many times before, with his incredible work-rate and tenacity. I see Maynard looking to dominate from the start and put the Champion away early, but i think Edgar will survive the early onslaught and take over in the Championship rounds, leading him to a decision victory.
Matthew Schuerman: This should be a fun fight for several reasons. First off, who is going to win the stand up battle? Edgar definitely has the edge, but Maynard has the power. Edgar likes to pick away at you with jabs and straight rights, while Gray likes to simply knock you out. Not displayed in their last fight in January was the vastly superior wrestling skill of Maynard. Edgar was able to thwart many of his shots late in the fight to, ahem, seal the draw. That being said, it will not happen again. Maynard takes Edgar down at will and takes his rightful place as a UFC champion.
