In a true battle of East Coast vs. West Coast — even their entrance music was Biggie vs. Tupac — New Jersey’s Frankie Edgar and California’s Urijah Faber went the distance as the UFC made its debut in Manila, Philippines Saturday.
Edgar, the former UFC lightweight champion and current featherweight contender, swept the scorecards in a unanimous decision win over Faber.
The former WEC superstar, Faber, moved up from the bantamweight division where he had competed since 2010 to take this fight. It marks his first loss in a non-title bout in his 40-fight career. Meanwhile, Edgar hasn’t lost a non-title fight since 2008.
Edgar has now won four in a row and pleaded for a title shot in his post-fight interview. In all likelihood “The Answer” earned a shot at the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor who fight at UFC 189 in July, but the UFC has yet to confirm this. Faber’s teammate Chad Mendes is also pining for another shot at the 145-pound title.
In the co-main event, former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi beat fellow 185-pound contender Costas Philippou by unanimous decision. Mousasi is 2-0 so far in 2015 after going 1-2 in 2014 with losses to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Lyoto Machida.
The most emotional moment of the event took place when veteran middleweight Mark Munoz dominated in the final mixed martial arts fight of his career. The 37-year-old announced prior to his unanimous decision win over England’s Luke Barrnatt that he would retire after the fight, win or lose. Munoz finishes his career with a 14-6 record including notable wins over Demian Maia, Chris Leben and C.B. Dollaway. He also had memorable encounters with current middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former light-heavyweight champ Machida.
Munoz is regarded as one of the most genuine, friendly, classy fighters in UFC history. His moving post-fight interview summed up what Munoz was all about.
Also on the main card, welterweight Neil Magny continued his winning ways with a second-round TKO of Hyun Gyu Lim. Magny, who overcame a flurry of strikes from Lim early in the first round, has now won seven straight fights. The only fighters on the UFC roster with longer winning streaks are Jon Jones (12), Demetrious Johnson (8) and Chris Weidman (8).
In his first UFC appearance since 2010, Phillipe Nover edged out Yui Chul Nam by split decision. Nover, who hadn’t fought in the UFC since UFC 109, made an impression on UFC fans during an impressive run on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC president Dana White famously called Nover “the next Anderson Silva” and also compared him to Georges St-Pierre, however he never lived up to lofty expectations.
On the preliminary card, Canadian Kajan Johnson defeated TUF China winner Zhang Lipeng in a lightweight bout and Jon Delos Reyes submitted Roldan Sangcha-An in a fan-friendly affair that earned each fighter a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Here are the complete results from UFC Manila:
MAIN CARD
— Frankie Edgar def. Urijah Faber by unanimous decision
— Gegard Mousasi def. Costas Philippou by unanimous decision
— Mark Munoz def. Luke Barnatt by unanimous decision
— Neil Magny def. Hyun Gyu Lim by TKO, Rd. 2
— Phillipe Nover def. Yui Chul Nam by split decision
— Levan Makashvili def. Mark Eddiva by split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Jon Tuck def. Tae Hyun Bang by submission, Rd. 1
— Kajan Johnson def. Zhang Lipeng by unanimous decision
— Li Jingliang def. Dhiego Lima KO (punches) 1 1:25
— Ning Guangyou def. Royston Wee by TKO, Rd. 2
— Jon Delos Reyes def. Roldan Sangcha-An by submission, Rd. 2
— Yao Zhikui def. Nolan Ticman by split decision
