The first win wasn’t a fluke, and UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar couldn’t make it any clearer.

This time, in a rematch that played out much like their first meeting – a UFC 112 fight in which Penn lost his belt – Edgar outclassed the once-dominant champ using a stick-and-move game plan and frequent takedowns to earn a lopsided unanimous-decision victory.

The title fight headlined Saturday’s UFC 118 pay-per-view event, which took at Boston’s TD Garden as part of the UFC’s Massachusetts debut.

Despite winning their first meeting, Edgar nonetheless entered the UFC 118 rematch as an underdog. Oddsmakers, in fact, gave him less than a one-in-three chance of pulling off a second victory.

Undaunted by the doubters, Edgar picked up where he left off in April and continued battering the Hawaiian with strikes from all angles. He really set the tone early, though, with a cage-rattling slam-takedown. Fearing additional trips to the mat, Penn became a bit flatfooted, and Edgar moved in and out with punches and kicks from all angles.

Penn finally scored his own takedown in the fourth round and quickly worked for the mount position. But despite being literally inches away from the dominant and much-needed ground position, Edgar turned his hips and then over-powered Penn to get back to his feet. Once there, the punches continued, and the champ locked up a 4-0 lead when he checked a high kick and swept Penn’s other leg out from under him.

Penn returned to his corner before the fifth and final round, and by then, his team had little to offer in the way of advice. The former champ appeared frustrated, even a bit dejected. In a last-ditch effort, Penn immediately shot for a takedown and actually took Edgar’s back while crashing to the mat. But the champ took all the wind out of Penn’s sails when he again muscled his way back to the standing position. Bur rather than sit back and relax with his comfortable lead, Edgar continued attacking with the ever-effective stick-and-move striking.

Ultimately, the judges gave him the shutout victory, and Edgar won the fight via scores of 50-45 on all three cards.

“B.J. really brought the best out in me,” said Edgar, who now can stake claim to the world’s No. 1 lightweight ranking. “I knew he was going to come in tough again. It was close the first time, and I just wanted to make a point.”

Penn had no answer during or after the fight.

“Frankie fought a great fight,” said Penn, who’s unsure if he’ll remain at lightweight or try his luck at 170 pounds. “He fought me twice, and he walked away with a decision twice. What can I say?”

B.J. Penn (15-7-1 MMA, 11-7-1 UFC) suffers back-to-back losses for just the second time in his career. Edgar improves to 13-1 (8-1 in the UFC), and thanks to an earlier bout now knows his next challenger, Maynard.

Source: MMAJUNKIE.com