TUF 22 finale - Chad Mendes vs Frankie Edgar: Winner will be deserving of a shot at the victor of Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo, writes Dan Hardy

Today, British UFC welterweight and UFC commentator Dan Hardy turns his attention to the second of the UFC’s three events this week, as Chad ‘Money’ Mendes and Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar both look to confirm their place as next in line to face whoever emerges as featherweight champ at UFC 194 the following night

Chad Mendes (right) in action (Josh Hedges/ Zuffa LLC)

With so many huge fights in one week, it’s hard to pay each one the attention it deserves. After the strawweight women’s bout headlines on Thursday, and after the weigh-ins for UFC 194 (which will be a big event in its own right), on Friday afternoon we have another whole event to entertain us. Squeezed in to the middle of a three night run of events is an exciting card that could happily stand alone as a major show by itself. The event, on the evening of Friday December 11th, will serve as the finale of the recent season of The Ultimate Fighter, the season which was led by two coaches who are both fighting on the UFC 194 card, namely Urijah Faber and the Notorious one, Conor McGregor.

It is yet to be revealed who from the show has been matched up, but the top half of the card is loaded with a lot of familiar names. We have great bouts featuring UFC stalwarts like Gabriel Gonzaga, Tatsuya Kawajiri and the always exciting Joe Lauzon. The main and co-main event though, offers a match-up that will determine contenders in the near future. In the lightweight division we have Edson Barboza attempting to slow the rapid rise of Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson. Known for his beautifully clean, technical striking, Barboza has been around the top ten for some time now. Currently sitting at #6, its time for him to make an argument for a title contender fight.

Frankie Edgar throws a kick at Urijah Faber (Josh Hedges/ Zuffa LLC)

The lightweight division is always one of the busiest, and the most difficult to carve out a win streak in. Barboza will attest to that himself, and knows that that will need to change if the belt is to ever come within grabbing distance. Ferguson on the other hand has put together a very nice six-fight win streak, having not lost since 2012. The level of competition has steadily improved and so have his performances, with the most impressive of which, for me, being his first round submission win over Gleison Tibau.

Perched one place below Barboza in #7, Ferguson could make a real statement here with another stoppage win. He knows that the higher ranked fighters have watched his rise with interest, and now he has a chance to knock off one of the most feared strikers at 155lbs (70kgs) and head into the top five with momentum. For Barboza its much more about defending his claim in the rankings and gearing up for an opponent ranked above him next time.

The main event of the evening will take place in the hottest division in the sport right now; the featherweight division. The winner of this fight will surely be next in line for the man that unifies the world and interim-world titles on the following night. Whether its Conor McGregor or Jose Aldo still standing when the dust settles from the weekend’s madness, it will be a stern test for whomever is victorious in Friday night’s main event. And it’s two of the best, Chad ‘Money’ Mendes and Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar who will be facing off for the privilege of the next title shot.

Edgar is well known for his grit and wrestling tenacity, but he is also good on his feet, moving well between ranges and staying fluid and relaxed. He is always working and always striking. He punches his way into range with good footwork and head movement, clinches or shoots and then unleashes a barrage of ground strikes as he transitions to more dominant positions. His conditioning is never in question and five round fights are more familiar to him than three rounders by now. He has experience against some of the best to ever step inside the UFC Octagon, including BJ Penn, Ben Henderson, and current champion, Jose Aldo.

On this night he will be facing another very strong wrestler. Compact in build at a heavily muscled 5’6”, ‘Money’ Mendes has the speed and power to cause Edgar some real problems early on. He has been known to fade as the fight progresses, but his five round war with Aldo was voted ‘Fight of the Year’ in 2014. He’ll be familiar with Edgar’s work rate and the guys at Team Alpha Male will have him well prepared. He also has the insight of long-time training partner, Urijah Faber, who was the last man to face Frankie, to draw upon.

So, yet another intriguing match up to spoil the UFC fan base this week. You are not going to want to miss these fights! If you decide to do the grown-up thing after all the late nights and take the rest of the week off work, check out the whole last season of The Ultimate Fighter on Fight Pass to find out about the individuals who will be making up the rest of this card. There is also a lot of UFC ‘Embedded’ video content available (Embedded being the mini docu-series that the UFC run to show the behind the scenes action from fight week), which shows all of the happenings from this week in Vegas.

In my view, the only way to do this week justice is total immersion in all things MMA. I’ll see you on the social networks discussing the action! @danhardymma