UFC Fight Night 66 Main Card Results: Frankie Edgar Decisions Urijah Faber

The UFC’s Filipino debut was headlined by the awaited match-up between featherweights Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber, with the winner finding himself in prime bargaining position in the UFC’s hottest division. The anticipated bout began with a feeling out process as Faber missed a takedown and ate an uppercut. ‘The California Kid’s’ movement level was high but he wasn’t landing a ton as Edgar landed a combo and spinning back kick to the body. Edgar pressed forward with punches but Faber countered with a good right. ‘The Answer’ sought a takedown and the first frame ended a chess match on the feet.

In the second, Faber landed a solid kick and a knee, to which Edgar responded with an uppercut. Edgar ate one more counter yet landed a rushing combo. Faber scored a left hook but ate a huge right from ‘The Answer,’ and the fighters traded frantic shots. Each used excellent footwork but couldn’t find too many openings for big strikes as the second frame wore down. Edgar continued to push the pace in the third with a decent volume, and Faber countered with a right. He snapped an uppercut an transitioned to a takedown, avoiding a guillotine attempt from Faber to take his back. He took it again after Faber avoided being mounted to put another strong frame in the bag.

In the championship rounds, ‘The Answer’ slowed a bit. He ate a right hand and landed two, following with a combo. He secured a takedown with a level change, clinching Faber’s back along the fence. Big punches followed, but Faber broke to snap a hard left counter. Faber landed a good jab to end the fourth, but he was likely down significantly on the scorecards. In the last round Edgar utilized movement to keep out of Faber’s power range. Decent hooks and uppercuts landed Edgar as he sought a takedown. He dumped Faber momentarily, returning to the feet to stifle Faber by landing jabs and quick hooks. Faber landed some decent shots  but it wasn’t nearly enough as Edgar took home the clear-cut unanimous decision win.

In the co-main event, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi met Cypriot slugger Costa Philippou. Mousasi not surprisingly took Philippou down early to unleash ground shots and completely neutralize him in the first. Mousasi got another takedown to start the second, but Philippou got back up. They traded a few strikes until a low blow from Mousasi halted the action. He got another takedown upon the restart, blanketing Philippou with top control to close out the second. Mousasi was calm with Philippou unloading big shots in the third, securing a takedown to smother his opponent for an obvious unanimous decision win.

Longtime veteran Mark Munoz fought his final UFC bout against The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum Luke Barnatt. Munoz came out with a big punch, and Barnatt landed some jabs and a knee. ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ got two takedowns that Barnatt got up from. Munoz then wobbled Barnatt with some big uppercuts and got a takedown, unloading trademark relentless ground and pound after ragdolling Barnatt. They got back up and Munoz hit Barnatt with a big overhand right.

Barnatt defended the takedown well in the second, landing some sharp strikes off a break. Munoz countered with a textbook takedown, dumping Barnatt. Bigslow’ got up and fended off a clinch, landing some knees to the body. The round ended with Munoz landing a big right. He came out with the same in the third, stunning Barnatt with a combo and securing a takedown. Barnatt landed some stiff elbows, but Munoz threw another big combo. One more overhand found a home, and Munoz grounded Barnatt to unload his patented ‘Donkey Kong’ damage to lock up a storybook victory to end his career.

Rising welterweight Neil Magny sought to continue his win streak versus Hyun Gyu Lim. But Lim came out aggressive for the Asian fans, hurting Magny with some big knees and punches in a wild flurry. Magny recovered to gain top position and rain down shots, transitioning to Lim’s back while ending the round with a nice flurry. He took the fight back to the ground in the second, softening Lim up with ground shots to eventually earn the stoppage for his seventh straight win.

Philippe Nover took on Yui Chul Nam at featherweight, with the Filipino Nover controlling Nam with takedowns and top control on the cage in the first frame. Nam came back with his striking in the final two frames, however, ending the bout with an arm triangle attempt. In the end, Nover took a controversial split decision.

The main card was kicked off with Mark Eddiva versus Levan Makashvili, who outwrestled Eddiva to take home a split decision where one judge gave him a 30-27 score.

UFC Fight Night 66 Main Card Results: (10 a.m. ET, FOX Sports 1):
Frankie Edgar def. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Gegard Mousasi def. Costas Philippou via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mark Munoz def. Luke Barnatt via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Neil Magny def. Hyun Gyu Lim via R2 TKO (strikes, 1:24)
Phillipe Nover vs. Yui Chul Nam via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Levan Makashvili def. Mark Eddiva via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)