Frankie Edgar produced a stunning first round knockout finish against Chad Mendes in thte main event of the TUF 22 FInale tonight in Las Vegas.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway. Edgar with a low kick and slips a punch. Mendes lands a low leg kick of his own.
Edgar circling on the outside. Mendes tries to land a punch but Edgar is elusive for now. Little flurry of punches from Edgar. Mendes lands a leg kick that almost takes Edgar’s leg out from under him.
Another powerful leg kick from Edgar and Edgar tries to respond with a head kick attempt that doesn’t land. Mendes with the jab. Edgar lands with his own. He thinks briefly a bout a takedown attempt. Uppercut from Mendes wings past Edgar’s head and he counters.
Nice little combo from Edgar. Mendes blasts another leg kick in. Those are landing really hard.
Suddenly Edgar lands a right hook and then a left to the nose and it drops Mendes where he stands, straight down to the mat like a building being demolished before keeling off to one side as he lands. The ref immediately steps in and stops the fight, Edgar wins by knockout with just 2.28mins on the clock! It was more a flash knockout than anything as Mendes is back moving straight away, but there’s no doubt he was relieved of his senses when that punch first landed.
Wow! What a finish for Edgar who’s not known as a knockout puncher, and especially impressive against a man of Mendes’ caliber. Huge, huge win for Edgar and that’s a definitive statement right there that he deserves the next shot at the featherweight title regardless of who wins tomorrow night at UFC 194.
As for Mendes, this is a nightmare scenario and means he’s lost three of his last four fights, and with two in a row coming by way of strikes there’s now questions over his chin that weren’t there before, while his title ambitions will have to be put on hold for the time being.
