In the first fight, Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn via unanimous decision, though it was close and hotly contested. In the second fight, Edgar won another decision, this one clear and without controversy. In the third fight, which took place last night (Sun., July 6, 2014) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the main event of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 19 Finale, "The Answer" stopped "The Prodigy" in the third round of a brutal beating.
After, Penn admitted he never should have come back from his self imposed hiatus. There were reports from cageside that UFC President Dana White got up and left before the finish, possibly because he didn't want to witness what the rest of us were left to take in, the destruction of a legend in the sport.
By the time the referee stepped in, Penn was bloody and ready to be done. Edgar remarked in his post-fight interview that he did what he planned on doing but almost felt bad about it. His dominance was clear but perhaps even more obvious was the fact that this sport has passed Penn by.
And so it ends not with a bang but a whimper.
For more on "Penn vs. Edgar 3" click here, and for complete TUF 19 Finale results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.