Tonight at 7 p.m. PT The Ultimate Fighter finale will get underway from Las Vegas, where the card will be headed by No. 2 featherweight Frankie Edgar, and No. 3 featherweight Chad Mendes on Fox Sports 1. Fans can live stream the card free by clicking this link.
Mendes is coming off an emotional loss in his last fight to Conor McGregor, which was his second defeat in his last three fights. Mendes is in a desperate place, having dropped those two fights to the top two fighters in his weight class. A loss to Edgar could spell the end of the line for Mendes as an elite fighter.
For Edgar, this bout is about adding another quality win to his resume, and keeping his momentum rolling toward a title shot. He is the clear frontrunner to fight the winner of McGregor vs. Jose Aldo Saturday night, but Mendes will be a very difficult opponent.
Edgar has the motivation of being bypassed in favor of the mouthy McGregor the first time McGregor and Aldo were scheduled to fight. Instead, Aldo pulled out with a rib injury, and the UFC tapped Mendes, not Edgar, to replace him in a fight for the interim featherweight title that McGregor now holds.
“I do feel I got overstepped, or whatnot, but it is an entertainment business and he does a good job of promoting himself, putting himself in headlines. And he backs it up in the octagon,” Edgar said of McGregor to The Los Angeles Times.
“I’m a working-class guy. I’m not going to sit there and complain. What’s that really going to get me? I need to keep my head down, go to work and make it happen, like I’ve been doing since day one of my career. I don’t feel like anyone’s handed me anything, or that I’ve had any breaks.”
Facing Mendes is no break either, thanks to Mendes’ superb ground game. Mendes only has two losses aside from McGregor, and both came against Aldo. Edgar has impressive stamina and a well-rounded game, but Mendes is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.
Prediction: Mendes def. Edgar by TKO (Round 4)
Full Fight Card HERE
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