Frankie Edgar racked up his third and most dominant victory over BJ Penn tonight at the TUF 19 Finale, finally stopping the former two-division champion in the third round by TKO.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway. Edgar with a quick two-piece combination. Edgar again darting in with strikes as he circles around Penn.
Penn taking a few shots here as he stands in a very upright stance. Edgar in with another right hand and Penn lands a knee.
Edgar with a takedown and Penn’s seem comfortable to be there. Edgar stands over him then picks his moment to jump into his guard. He backs away again and then moves to guard once again.
Out and then in again goes Edgar, trying to find a way past Penn’s guard. Edgar stands again and lands some kicks.
He jumps in again with a punch. Penn with his feet on Edgar’s hips. Eventually he pushes him away with his feet. Penn tries to land a big upkick, but then stays on his back. He wants a ground battle here, but so far he’s not found a way to put Edgar in any kind of trouble on the mat.
Edgar up again with a minute to go and this time the ref opts to stand them both up.
Penn back to a very upright stance on the feet as Edgar dances around him. Penn with a couple of jabs, but he’s not throwing much at all, perhaps baiting Edgar to take him down again.
Edgar’s happy to stay on the outside though and connects to Penn’s jaw solidly. Strange strategy from Penn so far and Edgar looks comfortable.
Round Two:
Penn with a left hook. Edgar in with a nice combination, he’s having little difficulty finding his range.
Edgar grabs ahold of a single, then ditches it and throws a punch instead.
Penn’s consistently pressing towards Edgar, but he’s not really letting his hands go. Edgar continues to pepper him with shots and then get out of danger.
Penn lands a short combination. Edgar ducks in and gets the takedown. He postures up and lands a few strikes then is tight into Penn’s chest again.
Edgar stands and lands a couple of kicks to Penn who remains on his back. Edgar grabs his legs and goes into his guard again. Penn offering nothing offensively on the mat so far.
Edgar in control on top, though not throwing a ton of offense himself. Edgar into half guard momentarily and lands a nice combination.
Back into full guard and lands repeated elbows in the final minute. This is good work from Edgar now and he continues to lands good strikes before slowing down again in the final 10 seconds.
Good round for Edgar and again Penn’s strategy, if there is one, seems very puzzling and his face is marked up now after that sustained ground and pound assault.
Round Three:
Edgar with a nice punch to start. He throws a high kick attempt that lands to the upper body. Edgar just too quick for Penn here and it seems that his opponent’s upright stance is only helping him.
Penn looks tired here and there’s been nothing in his punches so far. Edgar continues to dance around him and then throws a big head kick that’s just blocked.
Edgar dropping some good elbows again here and it opens up a bad cut above Penn’s left eye. More elbows drop down from Edgar. On the strength of this performance so far you’ve got to think that Penn made a mistake coming back for this fight – he really looks a shadow of his former self here.
Penn does land with a left, but Edgar immediately counters with a trip to get his opponent on the mat again.
Relentless offense from Edgar and Penn’s taking a beating here. The referee doesn’t like what he’s seeing and urges Penn to show him something.
Unfortunately it seems that Penn has nothing left to give, and as the offense from Edgar continues the ref decides he’s seen enough, ending the fight and handing Edgar a TKO victory.
So, a polished performance from Edgar and sadly almost certainly the worst performance of his career for Penn in what could be his last ever appearance in the Octagon.
