Frankie Edgar fought in New Jersey for the first time since Nov. 2007 on April 21 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. For the Toms River native, the experience lived up to the hype. Steve Feitl
Toms River native Frankie Edgar was victorious in his first fight in New Jersey since 2007 at the UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, while Kevin Lee bloodied and stopped Edson Barboza in the main event.
ATLANTIC CITY -- Frankie Edgar made a memory he hopes will last a lifetime Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.
But it wasn't the clear victory over Cub Swanson in the semi-main event of the UFC Fight Night card -- though that was certainly a positive experience. Instead it was seeing his kids run up to congratulate him after the fight.
It had been 11 years since the Toms River native last fought in the Garden State, so the opportunity for his young children to see him compete in front of a hometown crowd was one he had to seize. His family was present throughout the fight week activities, with son Santino even joining his father on the mat at the open workouts.
"This was special," Edgar said. "Having my kids there was the best thing for me. Having them run up to me after is something I will remember forever. Hopefully they remember it forever.
"And what better place than in my hometown? I've been coming to Atlantic City for a long time. I've been seeing people compete in this building for a long time. So to be able to do that was something special."
Edgar won via unanimous decision with all three judges giving the hometown fighter all three rounds. For more on Edgar's thoughts on the hometown experience, watch the video at the top of this page.
"Jersey, I love you baby," Edgar told the Atlantic City crowd of 9,541 mixed martial arts fans that chanted "Frank-ie Ed-gar" throughout the bout. "I love you. TR, I know you are in the building."
The former Toms River East wrestling standout rebounded from a knockout loss in his last bout with a steady performance against Swanson. He pressed the action throughout and connected with combinations.
In his first bout with Swanson, which Edgar also won, "The Answer" had been able to control the action with a dominating ground game. This time he had to do it standing. But while he wasn't scoring the takedowns, he was connecting on the separations.
"My coach always tells me never stop," Edgar said. "It's not just boxing, it's not just wrestling. It's not like after a wrestling exchange you stop, or after a boxing exchange you stop. You try to mix it all together and I'm able to do that."
To learn why fighting at Boardwalk Hall meant crossing something off his bucket list, watch the video below from earlier in fight week.
UFC Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall on April 21, 2018, will give Toms River native Frankie Edgar the opportunity to cross something off his bucket list. Steve Feitl
Edgar last fought in New Jersey at UFC 78 in November 2007 -- an unanimous decision victory over Spencer Fisher.
This time, however, Edgar was fighting with a heavy heart. He lost both his father and grandfather in the last month.
"It wasn't easy," Edgar said of the last few weeks of juggling real-life heartache and pre-fight preparations. "Death is never gonna be easy. I think this kind of helped me, if anything. It kind of kept my mind off of it in a way and it gave me something to let my energy out on."
In the main event, Kevin Lee took out Edson Barboza in a key lightweight clash. The doctors advised the referee to stop the bout after examining the cuts around Barboza's eyes, awarding Lee the TKO victory at 2:18 of the fifth round.
Lee grounded the flashy Barboza -- a crowd favorite because the Brazilian moved to Toms River years ago -- in the first two rounds. He was so dominant, he earned 10-8 scores in both rounds from all judges.
In the third round, it immediately became clear why that had been a good strategy as Barboza connected on a highlight reel spinning heel kick that left Lee wobbly legged. But Lee survived.
"That's one of those things about being in this game, especially with one of the best strikers in this division: You can't take your mind off of him for a second, and I feel that I did that," Lee said. "But that's part of my complete game. I can take a shot and I can keep pushing forward. And that's what a true champion has to do."
In the fourth, he went back to the strategy of grounding Barboza, much to the dismay of the crowd. But it was effective and helped Lee earn that round on the scorecards and set up the fifth round stoppage.
"I said before this fight, mental strength was going to be the key," Lee said. "I wanted to go all five rounds and show my complete game. I feel I did that. I did a little southpaw, out-boxed him and stopped him in the fifth."
In other bouts on a night when the UFC announced a $923,720 gate, Justin "Big Pretty" Willis nearly finished Chase Sherman in the first round of their heavyweight throwdown. He dropped Sherman and pounced and delivered a flurry of hammer fists. But Sherman somehow survived and the two big men never delivered that level of excitement again for the remainder of the bout.
In the end, Willis earned the unanimous decision by scores of 29-28 across the board.
"He was just trying to survive, but I’ve got to do better next time and finish," Willis said. "I have to throw more punches and not just concentrate on knockouts. I need to focus on picking them apart the whole time. I got a little one-dimensional. That’s OK, because I got the win."
New York's David Branch made short work of a surging Thiago Santos, connecting with a looping right overhand that crumpled Santos. Branch followed up with some hammer fists before it was called off at 2:30 of the very first round.
Branch said Santos was difficult to get at, so the middleweight had game planned on the looping strikes.
"He’s tricky to get to," Branch said. "We had to loop those punches, because he was expecting us to throw them right up the middle. He’s a bruiser. Any time he goes in there, he’s going to go out on his shield or knock you out."
Branch earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his stunning victory.
Fighting out of Long Island, bantamweight Aljamain Sterling put in a crisp performance of his own in handing Brett Johns his first MMA loss.
Sterling was far more active with strikes and leg kicks and was pummeling Johns from his back as the bout ended. He earned the unanimous decision, much to the delight of the crowd that frequently chanted “Al-ja” throughout the fight.
"It was about picking the key moments and getting the right timing to get into those striking battles," Sterling said. "In my last fight, it’s unlike me to rush in. I got caught. I just went back to being me and doing what I do best."
Sparta’s Jim Miller started off the main card in what was a record-tying 29th appearance in the Octagon – sharing the mark with Michael Bisping. Unfortunately, his landmark bout was short-lived.
Miller found some openings for strikes against the taller Dan Hooker and tripped him two minutes in for the takedown. But at the three-minute mark, Miller stepped right into a knee that sent Miller falling backward to the mat like a tree. Hooker followed up with a strike, but it was unnecessary. “The Hangman” had the knockout.
After the bout, Hooker said how much he respected the New Jersey native, calling him a legend and drawing applause from the pro-Miller crowd and an acknowledgement from Miller himself as he returned to the locker room.
"It feels pretty surreal at the moment," Hooker said. "I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I understand this sport. I’ve been through every high and low in this game. I know that could have just as easily been me. It’s a coin toss when you go in there.
"So with every victory — especially a victory like this — I’m just appreciative. He could have caught me with one of those overhand lefts and I’d be on the ground."
After the bout, Long Island’s Matt Serra was announced as an inductee into this year’s UFC Hall of Fame class.
In the final preliminary bout, New York's Ryan LaFlare earned a straight-forward unanimous decision over Alex Garcia in a welterweight matchup that drew the ire of the crowd for its extended periods of groundwork.
"It played out pretty much as I expected," LaFlare said. "I saw everything he threw at me. I don’t think he hit me with one clean punch."
There were fireworks throughout the first round of the Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon bantamweight bout. Dvalishvili dropped Simon with a right and spent much of the round chasing Simon. Simon did fire back toward the end of the round.
After a more evenly matched second round, it came down to a thrilling conclusion to the third when Simon locked in a choke with approximately 55 seconds remaining in the bout. Dvalishvili thrashed and kicked but couldn’t fight his way free. Yet, he survived the round.
Or so it seemed. UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer informed the crowd that the referee called a stop to the fight at the conclusion of the third round, meaning Simon was awarded the TKO in a decision that was booed heavily in the arena.
"I got up, looked at his eyes and he was gone," Simon said. "I sunk in a deep choke and he was out. I stood over his body and he was limp. He was flailing and then went limp."
Dvalishvili said he wasn't out, however. And if the judges scorecards had been counted, he would have won a split decision.
"When it was finished, I was just tired and stayed down," he said. "I knew I had won. The doctors told me to stay down. I don’t know why they gave it to him. I feel I’m the winner. I didn’t lose this fight."
The controversial clash earned both fighters the Fight of the Night bonus.
Luan Chagas tried a running knee seconds into his fight, setting the scene for looked like it might be a wild welterweight slugfest. But Siyar Bahadurzada caught his leg and sent him to his back to slow the action. Halfway through the round Chagas reversed it and took the back, looking for rear-naked chokes until the horn.
Things took a turn in Round 2, however, as Bahadurzada connected with a front kick to the body. As Chagas crouched over in pain from the body blow, Bahadurzada pounced with an uppercut to end Chagas’ night early.
“I’m the best fighter in this division,” Bahadurzada proclaimed in the cage after the fight, also inviting fans to come celebrate with him in the nearby Bally’s casino lobby after the fights. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
As the first fighter with Garden State ties to head to the cage, Corey Anderson received a nice reaction from the fans in attendance. A “Cor-ey Ander-son” chant broke out as the fight began. Anderson responded by quickly bloodying Patrick Cummins in their light heavyweight clash. Far more precise with the striking, Anderson also mixed in two takedowns in the first round, including an emphatic double-leg with 50 seconds to go.
After two minutes of a more even Round 2, Anderson again scored with a big takedown. Cummins seemed powerless to defend it. He repeated it with 45 and 5 seconds to go, including balancing on Cummins’ back as he tried to get to his feet, which drew a roar from the crowd. He struck again 45 seconds into the third. Cummins never escaped the grasp and Anderson cruised to the easy unanimous decision, including two 30-26 scores.
"That went 100 percent according to the game plan," Anderson said. "We knew the jab would dictate the pace. I could see his stuff coming because he isn’t as fast as my training partners. It was the perfect game plan. This was exactly what we asked for."
As the crowd was still making their way from the nearby casinos and boardwalk, Tony Martin and Keita Nakamura were the first to the cage. Martin wasted little time in producing some swelling above Nakamura’s left eye in a fairly dominant first round. Martin continued with his advantage in the second, sailing several head kicks at Nakamura until he sought the takedown. Martin was ready, attempting a guillotine as time expired.
Martin was again on point with his strikes in the third round, showing little fear of his opponent’s offense. Nakamura again went for a late takedown only to find himself in a potential submission attempt. Martin took the unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 across the board.
"I thought it was a dominant performance," Martin said in comments provided by UFC. "Next, I want someone who’s going to come after me and try to win the fight a lot more. I feel like he was more in survival mode once he felt the right hand. I hurt him a couple times and tried to jump on him, but heard my coaches telling me to calm down."
Several New Jersey mixed martial artists will compete at the UFC Fight Night card at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on April 21. We asked if they are enjoying fighting close to home. Steve Feitl | Wochit
FIGHT CARD
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
Tony Martin dec. Keita Nakamura (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
FOX Sports 1 Prelims
Corey Anderson dec. Patrick Cummins (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Siyar Bahadurzada KO Luan Chagas (R2 2:40)
Ricky Simon TKO Merab Dvalishvili (R3 5:00)
Ryan LaFlare dec. Alex Garcia (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
FOX Sports 1 Main Card
Dan Hooker KO Jim Miller (R1 3:00)
Aljamain Sterling dec. Brett Johns (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
David Branch KO Thiago Santos (R1 2:30)
Justin Willis dec. Chase Sherman (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Frankie Edgar dec. Cub Swanson (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kevin Lee TKO Edson Barboza (R5 2:18)
Staff writer Steve Feitl: sfeitl@gannettnj.com; Twitter: @SteveFeitl
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