New Year’s Day has traditionally been a day to sleep in late, watch some college football and recover from the festivities of the night before. That wasn’t the case on January 1, 2011, when the first and only UFC card held on the holiday took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And there was no post-celebration hangover in Las Vegas that night, with a star-studded card headlined by one of the best fights in UFC history. That main event was a rematch between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard, and while their first bout in April 2008 (won by Maynard via decision) wasn’t exactly a barnburner, the rematch three years later was highly-anticipated by those waiting to see whether Maynard could extend his nine-fight UFC unbeaten streak against Edgar, who was fresh from a pair of victories over BJ Penn.