Frankie Edgar has retained his lightweight championship belt after fighting to a split decision draw against the undefeated Gray Maynard at UFC 125.

In front of 12,600 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Edgar and Maynard fought for the full five rounds before the judges declared the fight a draw; 48-46, 46-48 and 47-47.

Edgar was lucky to survive the first round after being knocked down three times by Maynard's straight right and left hook combination. Referee Yves Lavigne showed great restraint as it appeared several times that the fight was on the verge of being stopped.

Sunday's fight was a rematch of the pair's first encounter in 2008, which Maynard won via unanimous decision. This fight, however, was fought predominantly on the feet, a stark contrast to their first fight which was dominated by Maynard's wrestling.

Edgar was able to survive a vicious onslaught from Maynard in the first round in which his opponent threw 98 punches to leave the champion bloody and dazed.

Edgar was rocked when Maynard landed a straight right followed by a left hook which knocked the champion backwards before Edgar somersaulted back to his feet. Maynard followed this combination with a right hook and an uppercut which brought Edgar to his knees, before regaining his footing.

The challenger then threw two more uppercuts that left his opponent reeling on the canvas with over three minutes remaining in the round.

Edgar was able to regain his breath as Maynard held him up against the cage. This respite was momentary as Maynard dropped his opponent again with an overhand right. Maynard knocked his opponent to the canvas three more times in the round but was unable to knock Edgar out or induce a referee stoppage.

Edgar stumbled wearily to his corner clearly feeling the full effects of Maynard's punches. Oddly as the bell rang to start the second round it was Maynard who appeared to have sustained more damage with the challenger sporting a bruised right eye and a cut under his left.

In the second round Edgar was able to avoid the heavy hands of Maynard and was able to impose his own will on the challenger. Edgar looked surprisingly fresh and appeared to have recovered fully from the Maynard massacre he has absorbed in the first round.

Maynard was sluggish and was showing signs that he may have exerted too much energy in the first five minutes as Edgar lifted and then drove his opponent into the canvas for a telling slam.

The remaining three rounds were closely contested with both fighters trading punches and neither able to control his opponent on the ground for a sustained period of time. Both fighters were able to successfully complete takedowns but were unable to inflict damage whilst in a dominant position.

At the end of the fifth round both fighters raised their hands in an effort to convince the three judges at cage-side that they were the victor.

Judge Patricia Morse Jarman - who had the 47-47 score - gave the second, third and fourth rounds to Edgar while awarding a 10-8 score to Maynard for the first round. Marcos Rosales gave Edgar every round except the first, which he awarded 10-8 to Maynard. Glenn Trowbridge gave Maynard the first, third and fifth rounds, with a 10-8 score in the first.

This result meant Edgar retained his title and remain the Ultimate Fighting Championship's lightweight title holder.

Both fighters were visibly disappointed post-fight with Edgar unable to remember much of the first round.

"It was a close fight but what are you going to do," said Edgar immediately after the decision was rendered.

In a match that was difficult to score, Maynard felt like he had won the majority of rounds.

"I think I pushed the pace and I think I won the first, third and fifth rounds. I definitely thought I won that one," Maynard said.

It appears that an immediate rematch will be scheduled which means Australia's George Sotiropoulos will have to bide his time if he wants a shot at the lightweight title.

In the co-main event of the evening Brian Stann was awarded a technical knockout in the first round after landing several unanswered blows to the head of Chris Leben.

Although Leben started the fight strongly it was Stann who connected with an overhand right that momentarily left Leben dazed. Stann could see Leben was stunned and rushed into finish his opponent but was unable to land the knockout blow as Leben returned to his feet.

A groggy Leben continued to press forward into the barrage of punches that Stann continued to throw before knocking Leben down again for the third time. Stann landed several more blows before the referee called an end to the fight.

"I feel great. I asked for Chris Leben because he is the toughest guy on the UFC roster," said Stann, who improved his record inside the Octagon to 4-2.

"I wanted to fight the best . . . I'm ecstatic. Golly, this guy can take some shots."

In the light heavyweight division Thiago Silva won a unanimous decision victory against Brandon Vera after controlling the fight from start to finish, with the judges scoring the fight 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 in favour of Silva.

Vera appeared the stronger of the two during the striking exchanges, however, Silva was able to take his opponent down at ease, continually controlling where the fight was fought.

During the final round Silva began to mock and taunt his opponent as he controlled the back of Vera. After the fight it was revealed that Vera had a severely broken nose, which veteran UFC commentator Joe Rogan remarked as the worst broken nose he had seen.

In the lightweight division Dong Hyun Kim won a fiery encounter against Nate Diaz via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in favour of Kim.

Kim completed several takedowns throughout the fight and was able to control his opponent once the fight reached the ground.

Diaz taunted his opponent in-between rounds but was unable to convert his verbal abuse into punches as he lost his first fight in three appearances.

In another lightweight bout Clay Guida bobbed, ducked and weaved Takanori Gomi before catching his Japanese opponent in a guillotine submission. Not only did Guida win his bout but he was also awarded submission of the night honours.

The following fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses:

Fight of the Night: Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard

Knockout of the night: Jeremy Stephens

Submission of the night: Clay Guida