By Jack Houston
Card features some of the most-anticipated matches of year
MGM Grand 4:30 p.m. Jan. 1, $75-$600 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
It’s out with the old and in with the new when a pair of up-and-coming fighters headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s New Year’s Day card at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard stake out their corner of the octagon in a battle for the lightweight championship this week in UFC 125: Resolution.
Edgar (13-1, 2 KOs) looks to parlay last year’s success into the new year, having defeated B.J. Penn twice in 2010, a feat that earned him a nomination for Upset of the Year at July’s ESPY Awards. He’ll face stiff competition from Maynard (10-0, 2 KOs), who handed Edgar his only loss back in 2008 and defeated Kenny Florian in August to set up a rematch with his old foe.
Thiago Silva (14-2, 11 KOs), who last fought a year ago when he headlined UFC 108 on Jan. 2, gets a chance to avenge his unanimous decision loss to Rashad Evans when he takes on Brandon Vera (11-5, 7 KOs), a former World Extreme Cagefighting champion, in a light heavyweight bout. Also appearing on the main card are middleweights Chris “The Crippler” Leben and “All-American” Brian Stann, welterweights Nate Diaz and Dong Hyun Kim and lightweights Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi.
