Edgar wins UFC featherweight bout in final seconds

It didn’t take Frankie Edgar long to realize he was in for a battle against Cub Swanson in the standup game during their main event bout on an Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night.

So Edgar went to his strength and took control of the featherweight contender bout by taking Swanson down over and over before eventually finishing him with a rear naked choke in the final seconds. The finish came at 4:56 of the fifth round, the latest stoppage in UFC history.

Edgar, a former lightweight champion, secured two takedowns late in the first round after the two exchanged shots for the first few minutes. He got Swanson to the mat early in each of the final four rounds and controlled the fight on the mat.

Edgar has won three straight fights since losing to Jose Aldo in a featherweight title bout. He would like another shot.

“I’m coming for that belt,” he said. “For all those people that doubt me, you better buckle up. This is just the beginning. I’m just getting started.”

Also, lightweight Edson Barboza picked apart Bobby Green with kicks for three rounds on his way to a unanimous decision. Barboza won for the fifth time in six fights.

Top flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez won all three rounds on his way to a unanimous decision over Dustin Ortiz.

Benavidez is 8-2 in the UFC, with the two losses coming to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

Heavyweight Jared Rosholt had his three-fight winning streak snapped in a first-round knockout loss to Oleksiy Oliynyk.

Rosholt appeared in control until he was caught by a big left hand that ended the bout.

Also on the main card, Matt Wiman and Chico Camus won decisions.

Roger Narvaez and Ruslan Magomedov won decisions in featured bouts on the undercard.

Magomedov took a unanimous decision over Josh Copeland in a heavyweight bout. Narvaez, a middleweight, won a split decision over Luke Barnatt.

It was the second straight loss by split decision for Barnatt, who began his career 8-0.

Highly touted women’s strawweight prospect Paige VanZant highlighted the untelevised portion of the preliminary card with a third-round knockout of Kailin Curran.

VanZant, 20, dominated Curran in the clinch before finally ending the fight with punches on the ground.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.