Frankie Edgar (dir) ties with Gray Maynard (left) and defends belt
In a New Year's Eve atmosphere, UFC-125, an event that took place this Saturday (1), in Las Vegas, opened the 2011 season of the largest MMA organization in the world. In the main fight of the night, valid for the lightweight title, Frankie Edgar e Gray Maynard They had a disputed and exciting duel from the beginning until the bell sounded. At the end of five rounds, the side referees saw a draw, a result that keeps the belt in the hands of Frankie Edgar. The fight program also featured the participation of two Brazilians, who left the octagon with victories. Acting on the preliminary card, Diego nunes surprised Mike Thomas Brown and debuted in Ultimate on the right foot, defeating the former WEC champion by decision of the judges. On the main card, Thiago Silva rediscovered the winning path by overcoming the veteran Brandon vera, also in the decision of the side referees.
Frankie Edgar e Gray Maynard remain in a draw
Before the start of the fight, some fans did not expect the duel between Frankie Edgar e Gray Maynard, valid for the lightweight belt, would please the public. However, when the bell sounded, the athletes put on an electrifying duel, worthy of applause. In the first round, the challenger had his best moment in the fight. After a strong right hand, the champion was knocked down and punished with an arsenal of punches, Edgar went to the ground twice more, but showing a lot of courage he stayed alive in the fight. After the suffocation in the initial round, Frankie returned recovered for the second round and used his traditional movement to enter and exit the range of action, delivering strong blows to Maynard's face. The third and fourth rounds remained closely contested, with a slight advantage for the current champion. In the fifth and decisive round, the athletes were already showing fatigue, but still tried to end the fight. At the end of the 25 regulatory minutes, both fighters raised their arms and were applauded by the public. In the end, the side judges declared a draw (48×46, 46×48, 47×47). With the result, the current champion, Frankie Edgar retained the UFC 70-kilo belt.
In a striking fight, Brian Stann wins Chris Leben
In a very busy fight, Brian Stann and Chris Leben brought the audience present at the Gym in Las Vegas to their feet. The fight began with a frank exchange of blows, where Leben went on the attack with crossed punches, while Stann worked well with counter attacks, which caused Chris to be knocked down. Showing a lot of courage, Leben got up and was punished again by Brian, who applied several blows. After being knocked down once again, Stann threw several punches with his opponent on the ground, which forced the referee to stop the fight, declaring the technical knockout.
With perfect strategy, Thiago Silva Beats Brandon Vera
Willing to return to the path of victories, Thiago Silva used a perfect strategy to defeat Brandon Vera. Without risking the North American's dangerous striking, Thiago sought the fight in the clinch, from where he applied blows 
shorts and his arsenal of takedowns. In the first round, after taking the fight to the ground, the Brazilian worked with several punches from above and when the bell sounded he provoked his opponent, calling him to the duel. Bitten by the Tupiniquim athlete's attitude, Vera came back with everything in the second round and started better in the exchange of blows, but Silva soon took the fight to the ground, from where he continued to punish his opponent and score points. After dominating the opening rounds, Thiago repeated the recipe and took the fight to the ground in the third round. Keeping his opponent on the fence, the Brazilian reached Vera's back and punished the North American with several punches, which broke his opponent's nose. Without any reaction, the Brazilian still applied several blows with his open hand until the end of the fight. In the end, victory Thiago Silva in the unanimous decision of the judges (30×26, 30×27, 30×27)
Dong Hyun Kim wins Nate diaz
In the fight between two ground fighters par excellence, the advantage went to Dong Hyun Kim, who managed to impose his game and defeat Nate diaz in the judges' decision. In the first two rounds, the Korean took advantage of his size to take down Cesar Gracie's pupil and score points. Nate, even from below, attacked with submission or sweep attempts, but they were always well defended by Kim. In the last round, knowing that he had a disadvantage on the judges' scorecards, Diaz loosened his game and was more effective, while the Asian athlete was already showing fatigue. With two minutes left in the fight, a controversial moment. After a sequence of knees applied by Nate, Dong Hyun tried to put his hand on the ground and avoid the blow, justifying the three supports, but at the time of the blow his hand was still in the air. Even so, the referee stopped the fight and granted a technical timeout. Upon returning to combat, the North American continued to improve, but it was too late. In the end, Dong Hyun Kim won by unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Guida submits Gomi
In the first fight on the main card, Clay guida scored his third consecutive victory in the UFC. Facing Takanori Gomi, the North American showed a lot of movement to enter and leave the range of action, working with boxing blows and attempted takedowns, while the Japanese stayed in the center of the octagon, throwing counter strikes. After a first round with an advantage, Guida returned for the second round even more electric. After taking the Japanese athlete to the ground, Gomi surprised him from below and managed to sweep, but ended up caught in a tight guillotine choke, being forced to give up the fight.
Diego Nunes fights well and beats Mike Brown
The first Brazilian to enter the Octagon, Diego Nunes debuted in the UFC on the right foot and achieved his first Brazilian victory in 2011. Against former WEC champion Mike Thomas Brown, the Nova União athlete started the first round at a disadvantage, where He was taken down by the North American and suffered some blows from the guard. In the second round, however, the Tupiniquim athlete managed to impose his arsenal of kicks and keep the fight standing to emerge victorious in the judges' split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28).
main card:
- Frankie Edgar e Gray Maynard they tied;
– Brian Stann defeated Chris Leben by technical knockout in R1;
- Thiago Silva defeated Brandon Vera via unanimous decision;
– Dong Hyun Kim defeated Nate diaz in the unanimous decision of the judges;
- Clay guida submitted Takanori Gomi with a guillotine choke in R2;
Preliminary Card:
- Jeremy Stephens defeated Marcus Davis by knockout in R3;
– Josh Grispi defeated Dustin poirier in the unanimous decision of the judges;
- Brad Tavares defeated Phil Baroni by knockout in R1;
– Diego Nunes defeated Mike Brown in a split decision by the judges;
– Daniel Roberts submitted Greg Soto with a Kimura in R1;
– Jacob Volkmann defeated Antonio McKee in a split decision by the judges
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