Cub Swanson Has No Answer for Frankie Edgar

Cub Swanson Has No Answer for Frankie Edgar

Cub Swanson had no answer for “The Answer.” Frankie Edgar punished Swanson for five rounds before gaining the latest stoppage in UFC history.

A confident Cub Swanson landed more significant strikes in the first round but Frankie Edgar employed wrestling and judo-style takedowns to mat his opponent.

Swanson continued to pursue in the second frame. Both fighters let their hands go and score, Swanson advertising the power of Edgar’s overhand right by sticking his tongue out. Edgar follows up his success in the standup by bringing the underdog down for a third time. And this time the Garden State wrestler keeps him down with several minutes of ground-and-pound that opens up a cut near Swanson’s left eye.  

Edgar lands his fourth takedown of the fight a minute into the third round. Edgar dominates from the top position for the rest of the round.

A cut-up Swanson starts the fourth surprisingly fresh, landing a hard body kick and punches before Edgar again brings him down 45 seconds into the stanza. Edgar unloads in full mount at about the three-minute mark. Edgar beating up Swanson before the crimson-faced Californian regains his feet for the last twenty seconds.

In the fifth, the former lightweight champion drops Swanson on his back a minute into the round. Edgar nearly finishes with a guillotine from the ground two minutes into the round. Other submission attempts and sadistic ground-and-pound follow. After several moments called for an intervention from the third man, the intervention comes with seconds to go as Frankie Edgar garners the latest submission in UFC history via a hybrid neck crank/rear-naked choke.

In the co-main event, Bobby Green shrugged off Edson Barboza’s strikes. He did little else. The lightning-quick Brazilian dominated the American with punches and kicks, including a spinning-heel kick that downed Green briefly in the second. Barboza improves to 15-2 and ends Green’s seven-fight win streak with the clean sweep on the cards.

The undercard offered several surprises. Heavyweight Oleksiy Oliynyk ended Jared Rosholt’s seven-fight winning streak, and his consciousness, with a massive left hook. The wrestler had pummeled the Russian until he landed the power shot. Chico Camus used superior footwork and a frenetic pace to edge Brad Pickett in a razor-thin split decision. Ruslon Magomedov defeated Josh Copeland by decision in their heavyweight tilt. Joseph Benavidez won a unanimous decision over a game Dustin Ortiz.

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