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Frankie Edgar finally made his Bantamweight debut against #5 ranked Pedro Munhoz in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar. Frankie Edgar was coming off a brutal KO loss over The Korean Zombie at the Featherweight Division, while Munhoz lost his last fight against #1 contender Aljamain Sterling. After five grueling rounds of intense action, Edgar edged past Munhoz, to pick up his first victory at the Bantamweight division. In the process, Frankie Edgar added his name to a list of very few fighters who have a win across three divisions including the likes of Jared Cannonier, Conor McGregor, and Anthony Pettis.
However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the outcome of the fight. While Frankie Edgar picked up an impressive split decision win over Pedro Munhoz, many fight fans feel that Munhoz did enough to pick up the victory.
Did Pedro Munhoz get robbed against Frankie Edgar?
It's hard to come to a solid conclusion about who won the fight. While Pedro Munhoz made his case against former Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. It's easy to argue that Munhoz landed more significant and powerful shots. However, Frankie Edgar was more calculative and threw a lot of combinations and volume. Munhoz managed to turn the game after three rounds and made quick adjustments to dominate Edgar. It remained neck to neck till the end of the fifth round, with Munhoz finishing the fight with an advantage.
According to the scorecards, Munhoz landed a total of 165 strikes from the 350 strikes he threw at the former Champion. Edgar was equally brilliant, and managed to land 135 out of the 363 strikes he threw at Munhoz. Interestingly enough, Edgar connected more head strikes, while Munhoz slaughtered Edgar's legs with brutal calf kicks. Munhoz said in the post-fight interview.
I saw the punches score. I had the first third and fifth round. It is what it is. Not even the leg kicks. I was hurting him with jabs. I chased him five rounds. He got a couple of takedowns but he could not do anything with the takedown. I got back up right away and I was looking for the finish.
Munhoz was efficient with his jabs and caused significant damage. Both the fighters traded brutal right hands. Edgar's chin held up against someone as dangerous as Munhoz. It's interesting to note that Pedro Munhoz dominated the octagon, and looked to always pressure Edgar to the cage. Munhoz's octagon control could have made a significant impact on the judges' scoring. However, Edgar's multiple takedowns also gave him an edge over the Brazilian. UFC President Dana White shared his thoughts on the match-up and stated that it was a close fight where he wouldn't have been surprised if the judges gave it to Munhoz.
It was a close fight. It’s close. If they had just said Munhoz I would not have said “Oh my God, it’s crazy”. Either one of those could have won that fight.
It's hard not to agree with Dana White. While there's a lot of criticism surrounding the decision, it's difficult to conclude whether Munhoz was robbed off a win over Frankie Edgar. It was a close fight, and both the fighters put up an incredible performance inside the octagon. Be that as it may, it was a split decision win for Edgar, who sent a notice to the entire division on his Bantamweight debut.
