LAS VEGAS -- Frankie Edgar's been quiet through it all. The UFC rewarding Conor McGregor with a title shot in his division. Chad Mendes getting the call to fight for an interim belt over him in July, despite his four-fight win streak. A former lightweight champ, basically overlooked.
Well, Edgar finally spoke up on Friday.
In the main event of the UFC's TUF 22 Finale at The Cosmopolitan, Edgar (20-4-1) recorded the fastest knockout of his professional career, dropping three-time title contender Mendes (17-4) with a left hook 2:28 into the first round. Mendes went limp from the shot and crumpled to his back. Referee John McCarthy promptly came and stopped the fight.
The win extends Edgar's current win streak to five and should place him in a strong position to challenge the winner of Saturday's title unification bout between Jose Aldo (25-1) and McGregor (18-2) at UFC 194. As he ran past press row on Friday, Edgar stated "write it up, write it up! Gotta get that title shot!"
"This is a big one," Edgar said. "Thank God, I've been blessed with a great team. I love what I do and I get to do it everyday. Three finishes in my last five fights. I'm ready. I don't know what [UFC president Dana White] saw, he's already on his way out. Maybe he doesn't want to disappoint me. But come on, you've got to give [the shot] to me."
Ranked the No. 2 featherweight in the world by ESPN.com coming into the fight, Edgar hasn't lost since he came up short in a title bid against Aldo in his featherweight debut in 2013. Edgar lost that fight by decision.
He's been on a tear since, taking out names that include Charles Oliveira, B.J. Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber and now Mendes. Edgar was slightly favored on Friday, but the knockout came as somewhat of a surprise. Mendes has been heralded as one of the 145-pound division's hardest hitters, with seven career knockouts.
Sacramento-based Mendes didn't get a chance to showcase that power, however. Edgar darted around him in the fight's opening minutes, landing several lead right hands. Mendes answered with a few hard leg kicks, but his night ended instantly on the left hook.
"[Boxing coach] Mark Henry says speed on your punches," Edgar said. "I felt we were throwing at the same time and I sped mine up, caught him. All week I heard he had the power, he had the power."
Mendes drops to 1-3 in his last four fights. His prior loss, a second-round knockout to McGregor at UFC 189, he accepted on two week's notice. Before Friday, all three of his professional losses came in UFC title fights.
Ferguson dominates Barboza
Lightweight contender Tony Ferguson (20-3) steamrolled Edson Barboza (16-4) in a second-round submission win, locking in a D'arce choke at the 2:54 mark. Ferguson was docked a point in the first round due to an illegal kick on the ground, which he admitted was "B.S." on his part. The point ultimately didn't matter, as Ferguson pressured Barboza all over the cage, cutting him on the crown of his head with an elbow and pouring on right hands. Barboza answered at times with hard counters, but Ferguson walked right through them. Ferguson was originally supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, but the Dagestani injured his ribs. Ferguson, 31, is 10-1 in the UFC.
Virginia lightweight Ryan Hall (5-1) won the 22nd season of The Ultimate Fighter by defeating Artem Lobov (11-11-1) by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26 and 30-27). The 30-year-old Hall made the most out of a second-chance opportunity on the reality series. He was inserted into the finals when Saul Rogers, who defeated Hall earlier in the season, withdrew from the Lobov bout due to visa issues. A decorated submission specialist, Hall took Lobov's back several times in the fight and pulled guard when he struggled to take him down. Lobov, an SBG teammate of McGregor, had no answer and spent most of the fight trying to work out of perilous spots.
Lightweight Evan Dunham (17-6), out of Las Vegas, claimed his third win of 2015, outpointing Joe Lauzon (25-11) via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27). Lauzon, a fan favorite and owner of the most UFC fight night bonuses in company history, never got going. Dunham, 33, punished him on the feet with combinations, uppercuts and elbows. Lauzon drops to 1-2 in his last three appearances.
Japanese featherweight Tatsuya Kawajiri (35-8-2) picked up a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) against 23-year-old UFC newcomer Jason Knight (15-2). The three-round fight was pretty tedious, as Kawajiri used his superior grappling to keep Knight on his back but never really threatened to finish. The 37-year-old Kawajiri has won two in a row and eight of his last nine.