X GAMES, Los Angeles — Matt Buyten soared above the competition — by two feet, to be exact — and won X Games gold in the Moto X Step-Up finals on Sunday at The Home Depot Center. Buyten cleared 23 feet in the competition, enough to edge out Brian Deegan and Jeremy McGrath, who both cleared 21 feet.

"I just went into that thing as hot as possible and held it wide," said Buyten following his victory. "I really look up to (McGrath). To sit here and battle with him is a dream come true."

McGrath made his X Games debut at X Games 10 in a memorable showdown between himself and Buyten. That Step-Up final was the longest Moto X competition in X Games history.

"All the stars have to line up for this event to be as dramatic as 2004, and I was disappointed because I know we can all go 10 feet higher," McGrath said.

About X Games 12: The X Games is the definitive annual action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world's best athletes competing in: BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and new to this year's lineup, Rally Car Racing. ESPN and ABC will provide 14 hours of original LIVE X Games 12 programming from August 3-6. ESPN will also present four late-night highlight programs starting August 4, resulting in a total of 18 hours of original programming for X Games 12. SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship news program, will report LIVE from X Games 12, with the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter featuring daily event coverage.

X Games 12 venues include STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.), Puerto Escondido, Mexico for Surfing and Gorman, Calif. for parts of the Rally Car competition. X Games will remain in Los Angeles through 2009.