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In between UFC Fight Night 80 and UFC 194 will be a loaded UFC Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale event from Las Vegas. The event will be headlined by a huge featherweight division bout as Frankie Edgar faces Chad Mendes. Also, the TUF 22 Lightweight Finals and a key lightweight division bout between Tony Ferguson and Edson Barboza are all set.
Main Card
Main Event
UFC Featherweight Division Fight
Frankie “The Answer†Edgar (19-4-1) vs. Chad “Money†Mendes (17-3-0)
Edgar has won four of five fights since moving up to featherweight and he is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. Mendes will be competing for the first time since losing a UFC Interim Featherweight Title bout to Conor McGregor at UFC 189. Edgar has already faced member of Team Alpha Male, as he defeated Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber. All three losses that Mendes has suffered since turning pro have come in title bouts, with two losses coming to Jose Aldo and one to Conor McGregor. Mendes’s best shot is to ground and pound Edgar, but Edgar’s footwork will keep him standing and his striking will carry him to a decision over Mendes.
Co-Main Event
UFC Ultimate Fighter 22 Lightweight Finals
Ryan Hall (4-1-0) vs. Artem “The Russian Hammer†Lobov (11-10-1-1NC)
Hall will be competing in his first professional MMA fight in eighteen months and he is replacing original finalist Saul Rogers, who was pulled from the fight due to visa issues. Lobov won all three of his qualifying bouts to make it to the finals and he previously fought original finalist Saul Rogers at a Budo MMA event. Hall will enter the fight riding a four fight winning streak and none of those wins came via a judges decision. Lobov has already fought a pair of UFC veterans in his career, those UFC veterans were Andre Winner and Mike Wilkinson. Hall is good enough to be a TUF Finalist, but Lobov is a far better fighter than his record suggest, Lobov grounds Hall on route to a decision.
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Edson Barboza (16-3-0) vs. Tony “El Cucuy†Ferguson (19-3-0)
Barboza has won three of his last four under the UFC banner and he is a replacement for the injured Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ferguson will enter the fight riding a six fight winning streak and he is coming off of a win over former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson. Barboza will keep things close for a while using his brutal leg kicks, but Ferguson will mix it up with his boxing to get a late TKO finish.
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Evan Dunham (16-6-0) vs. Joe “J-Lau†Lauzon (25-10-0)
Dunham will enter the fight on the strength of a two fight winning streak and he is currently undefeated in 2015. Lauzon has won three of his last four under the UFC banner and two of those wins have come over past TUF champions. Dunham’s best shot at winning is to get the fight to the ground, but Lauzon is stronger on the ground and on the feet, which will carry him to a decision win.
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Ryan LaFlare (11-1-0) vs. Mike Pierce (17-6-0)
LaFlare will be looking to rebound from his first professional MMA defeat, which came to Damien Maia at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare. Pierce will be returning to action after a two year absence, as he was dealing with injuries following a controversial bout with Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Maia. Pierce and LaFlare are both excellent when it comes to the ground game, but Pierce has been away for awhile and LaFlare will get the decision win.
UFC Featherweight Division Fight
Tatsuya “Crusher†Kawajiri (34-8-2) vs. Jason “The Kid†Knight (14-1-0)
Kawajiri has won two of three fights thus far under the UFC banner, most notably defeating Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne. Knight will be making his UFC debut in this fight and he enters the fight as a late replacement for Mirsad Bektic. Kawajiri is a dangerous fighter wherever the fight goes, he quickly finishes the late replacement in the first round.
Preliminary Card
Gabriel Gonzaga over Kontstantin Erokhin
Joby Sanchez over Geane Herrera
Marcin Wrzosek over Julian Erosa
Chris Gruetzenmacher over Abner Lloveras
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