Today at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, New Jersey native and +500 underdog Frankie Edgar pulled off the biggest upset in the promotion’s history, defeating lightweight champion B.J. Penn in five hotly contested rounds of war. Edgar opened the bout showing some incredible speed and fantastic MMA fundamentals. Going toe to toe with Penn, who is viewed by many to have the best hands in MMA, Edgar was able to match Penn strike for strike, even out landing Penn outside the pocket in the first two rounds.

Using a textbook mobile defense, Edgar circled, switched direction and mixed in takedown attempts in a way that confounded Penn’s normally pinpoint striking. The champion was able to find Edgar’s head with a few three punch combination, keeping every round very hotly contested and difficult to score.

As the fight progressed, Edgar became the first lightweight in over five years to take The Prodigy to the ground, first with a perfectly turned single leg and again with an authoritative double. With such a close contest, those takedowns could have easily made the difference on two out of the three judge’s score cards.

In the fifth and final frame, Edgar still looked spry as he did in the first while Penn was visibly starting to fade. Putting some violent punctuation on the bout, Edgar finally began to distance himself, significantly out landing Penn in strikes and keeping a steady string of takedown attempts to stop Penn from planting his feet.

After the final bell rang, all three judges gave the decision nod to the new UFC lightweight champion of the world.

Penn’s loss has just sprayed blood in the water of the competitive shark tank that is the lightweight division. Now that what was previously thought to be an undefeatable champion has been dethroned, all eyes are on Edgar to see if the Jersey boy can protect the hardware he’s won.