AUSTIN, Texas -- Frankie Edgar might not leave this state with a guaranteed UFC title shot, but he made one heck of a compelling case for one.
Edgar (18-4-1) completely throttled Cub Swanson in a five-round non-title fight before a crowd of 10,131 inside Frank Erwin Center on Saturday, eventually securing a neck crank at 4:56 of the final round. Referee Dan Miragliotta called the 145-pound bout after a Swanson tap, with just 4 seconds remaining. It is the latest finish in UFC history.
Swanson (21-6), who hadn't lost in six consecutive fights and said he'd been promised a title shot by the UFC with a win, was helpless off his back against Edgar. Immediate cageside stats by Fightmetric had Edgar outlanding Swanson in total strikes 281 to 79, most of which came on the ground.
After the result, Edgar promised more of the same at 145 pounds. He is 3-0 in the division since coming up short in a featherweight title bid against Jose Aldo in February 2013.
"Dana [White], you said you'd be watching," Edgar said. "I hope you liked what you saw. I'm coming for that belt. All those people doubting me: This is just the beginning."
"It should be me," Edgar said of the title shot. "Based on our performance and what I've done in my career, it should be me."
The first round was the only competitive frame of the fight. Swanson defended Edgar's early attempts to take him down and landed a few boxing combinations. He sent Edgar backward with a wide right hand later in the round and came aggressively forward, only to be taken down. Swanson managed to rise up quickly, however, and land his lead right hand. Two of the three judges scoring the fight awarded Swanson the first round.
Edgar would not be denied the takedown the rest of the fight. He took Swanson down in the opening minute of rounds two through four, suffocating him from top position and opening facial cuts with elbows and punches. Swanson grew increasingly desperate as the fight progressed, loading up on home run shots at the beginning of rounds, only to be taken down.
The finish came after a round that saw Swanson alternate from surrendering his back to giving Edgar full mount. With the action pressed up near the cage, Edgar took Swanson's back, dropped his right arm under the chin and produced the UFC-record-setting tap. It is just the fourth submission win of Edgar's career and ninth finish overall.
"Cub was a tough dude," Edgar said. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy getting him out of there. I want to finish fights. I'm working on it. I pushed for it. It came at the very end, but I still got it."
Edgar adds nearly 25 minutes to his already long history in the Octagon. The former lightweight champion entered the fight with 4:45:25 of total fight time in the UFC, tops among active fighters.
In addition to the work on the ground, Edgar utilized his boxing and head movement on the feet. He answered an outside leg kick in the second round with a big right cross. In the third, after absorbing a hard left kick to the body, Edgar ducked under a right hand and scored a takedown.
It was a beautiful performance to follow up an equally dominant win over B.J. Penn in his last bout, at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale in July. Edgar won that bout via TKO in the third.
The 33-year-old Edgar will compete with Irish sensation Conor McGregor for the next featherweight title shot. McGregor (16-2) is scheduled to fight Dennis Siver on Jan. 18 in Boston.
"It's not my job to make the fights," Edgar said of the matchup. "My opinion on it, I don't know who else was there for him to fight. I think everybody wants to see him fight a wrestler. There is still some unknown about him, but he's been doing everything he's supposed to do. Dennis Siver is not an easy fight by any means, but it's not the matchup everybody wants."
Barboza strikes his way to victory
Edson Barboza landed a few shots even Bobby Green couldn't shake his head at.
Barboza (15-2) earned a big win in the lightweight division, knocking off Green (23-6) via a clear-cut unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout a dominant 30-27 for Barboza.
"I trained so hard for this fight. You have not seen the best of [me] yet, but you'll see him soon," Barboza said.
"[Green] did a lot of taunting, but I am used to it, it wasn't a problem. It was a good, hard fight. I worked hard to prepare and it paid off."
The loss snapped an eight-fight winning streak for Green, who is known for fighting with his hands down and shaking his heads after eluding shots. He did both against Barboza, but couldn't shrug off shots in the second round, including a spinning kick to the head that nearly knocked him out.
Barboza fought a calculated, smart fight on the feet. He went to work on Green with his signature leg kicks in the first round and bloodied his mouth in the opening minute with punches.
He caught Green with a clean right hand counter early in the second round. As Green, stunned, backed off from the punch, Barboza lit into him with a wheel kick that knocked him to the floor. Green bounced up quickly and eventually smiled, while Barboza maintained discipline and went back on the attack with leg kicks.
Green showed heart and continued to move forward and look for openings. He spent most of the final round chasing Barboza, though, after he opened a cut near the Brazilian's right eye with jabs. With 10 seconds remaining in the fight, Barboza couldn't help himself from smiling and lifting his arms in celebration.
Barboza has now won five of his past six fights. His only loss during that streak came via submission to Donald Cerrone in April. Green, 28, suffers his first UFC loss. He is 4-1 in the Octagon.
Camus edges past Pickett
Chico Camus picked up his first win as a flyweight in the form of a split decision against Brad Pickett.
The former 135-pounder stayed light on his feet, worked his boxing and defended Pickett's takedowns en route to a win on the scorecards.
Judges Marcos Rosales and Anthony Townsend scored the 125-pound bout 29-28 in favor of Camus, while judge Jon Schorle saw it completely different at 30-27 for Pickett. ESPN.com scored the fight 29-28, Camus.
"It feels great. He was a tough opponent, but it felt great to beat him," Camus said. "He's a top contender so I'm very satisfied with my performance. "My confidence and being prepared is what helped me win. Going hard in the gym and not taking any days off. The confidence and the swag, the same things that I do in the gym every day, I did today."
Speed was a difference-maker for Camus (15-5), as he utilized the space in the cage and kept Pickett guessing with crisp in-and-out movement. His boxing was far more effective than Pickett's, and he caught the American Top Team product square with jabs and right hands throughout the 15-minute bout. He landed a nifty flying knee up the middle early in the fight.
Pickett, also a former bantamweight, did his best to neutralize Camus by putting him on the ground, but most of his efforts to do so came up empty. Immediate cageside stats from Fightmetric showed Pickett (24-10) went 2-for-8 on takedown attempts and was out-struck in the bout 98-to-111.
The Austin crowd grew restless in the third round, when Camus spent most of the five minutes circling away from Pickett, using the fence to defend takedowns and popping out a defensive jab. Pickett grew irritated by the strategy, but couldn't effectively close distance to turn the tide.
Camus moves to 4-2 overall in the Octagon. Pickett, 36, loses back-to-back fights for just the second time in his career. The first time it happened came in 2007.
Oleinik knocks out Rosholt
Alexey Oleinik shocked Jared Rosholt in a first-round knockout, courtesy of a left hook.
Olenik (50-9-1) weathered an early barrage and landed a picture-perfect shot in the pocket to score his second win in the UFC. Referee Kerry Hatley stopped the heavyweight bout at 3:21.
It was a stunning result, as the Russian is far better known for his submission skills than any knockout résumé. It is only the fifth knockout win of Olenik's career, compared to 40 via submission.
Rosholt (11-2) came out of the gates hard. He spun Olenik, 37, into the fence in the opening moments and landed a few uppercuts up the middle. As Olenik covered up, Rosholt poured it on with dirty boxing in tight, but couldn't quite land the right shot to put him away.
After blocking several shots, Olenik came off the cage with a takedown attempt, which Rosholt sprawled on and turned into a front-headlock. The two heavyweights played the hand-down game for a bit, with Olenik keeping his left hand on the mat to prevent Rosholt from throwing a knee to the head. Rosholt eventually gave the hold up. Olenik landed the left hook moments later.
Rosholt, 28, sees a seven-fight win streak snapped. He had won three consecutive decisions to start his UFC career, over Walt Harris, Daniel Omielanczuk and Soa Palelei. Olenik continues to roll, collecting his 11th consecutive win dating back to March 2012.
Benavidez beats Ortiz to the punch
Joseph Benavidez steamrolled another flyweight, although Dustin Ortiz ultimately denied him a finish in a three-round fight.
Benavidez (21-4) hammered Ortiz with numerous right hands and kicks to the head, but was unable to hand the 25-year-old his first knockout loss. It was a dominant performance nevertheless by the two-time UFC title challenger. All three judges scored it a sweep for Benavidez, 30-27.
"Dustin is a tough guy, he's super tough," Benavidez said. "I caught him with some good elbows and he kept going. I was looking forward to going to the ground, I had some good takedowns, but he had good defense and kept fighting his way out.
"I hit him with some good punches and I kind of expected him to go down and he didn't, that was part of what made it fun out there. We kind of mixed into everywhere, it wasn't just a standup or just a grapple. You kind of learn about yourself going through the adversity.
The right hand over the top was one of many weapons for Benavidez, but it might have been his most effective. He countered Ortiz's pressure well start to finish, landing the right hand again and again at the end of combinations.
Ortiz (14-4) responded with a near-inhuman durability, though. He ate Benavidez's best shots and continued to come forward, at one point even stunning him a bit with a left hook.
The closest Benavidez came to a finish was in the second round. After a fast start that saw him bullrush Oritz with winging punches, Benavidez landed a left head kick flush that appeared to finally hurt his iron-chinned opponent. Benavidez pursued with punches but Oritz recovered quickly and scored a takedown moments later, after ducking under a Benavidez left hook.
Perhaps tired from all the early offense, Benavidez's pace slowed a bit in the final round. He still managed to land the cleaner shots in exchanges, however, and defend Ortiz takedown attempts. He nearly picked Ortiz up and slammed him to the canvas early in the round, but Ortiz regained his balance and fought it off.
Benavidez moves to 2-0 since a first-round KO loss to current champion Demetrious Johnson. ESPN.com ranks him the No. 2 flyweight in the world. Ortiz, who fights out of Roufusport in Milwaukee, drops to 3-2 in the UFC. His past four bouts have gone the distance.
Wiman returns with win
In his first appearance in nearly two years, lightweight Matt Wiman won a battle in the trenches against the scrappy Isaac Vallie-Flagg.
Wiman (16-7), who had not fought since January 2013, stood up to Vallie-Flagg's pressure and owned him on the floor en route to a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight for Wiman by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
I'm very happy. It's good to be back to work; it was a great experience," Wiman said. "I was nervous, but I guess when you have a long layoff, you tend to be more nervous.
"I wanted to fight Isaac because he is aggressive, he comes forward and doesn't slow down. He's a brawler and a tough guy and was a really tough opponent."
The action was fairly even on the feet, but Wiman held a clear advantage on the ground. He took Vallie-Flagg's back in each of the three rounds and nearly secured an armbar in the first.
Vallie-Flagg (14-6-1) forced a phone boot-type range throughout the 15 minutes. He repeatedly clinched with Wiman and pushed him to the fence, throwing right hands to the body and elbows up top. He was successful at times, but ate his share of shots as well. Wiman scored with elbows and knees and eventually worked several takedowns.
The third round was all Wiman, as he proved to be more physical late. Despite the layoff, his cardio was on point and he put Vallie-Flagg on his heels. He took Vallie-Flagg's back in a scramble with about 2 minutes remaining. A rear-naked choke never came, but Wiman stayed in the position the rest of the fight.
Wiman, who trains on his own out of Portland, Oregon, earns his first victory since September 2012. Vallie-Flag suffers his third consecutive defeat.