Edgar dominates Penn in The Ultimate Fighter 19 finale

Frankie Edgar dominated BJ Penn en route to a third-round TKO in Sunday night's main event at The Ultimate Fighter 19 finale in Las Vegas. 

With the Mandalay Bay Events Center crowd firmly in Edgar's corner, the former UFC lightweight champion - fighting Penn at featherweight - barely broke a sweat in the battle between TUF team leaders. The victory capped a clean sweep, as Team Edgar fighters Eddie Gordon and Corey Anderson won their respective finals to secure UFC contracts.

A slimmed-down Penn (16-11-2) looked like a shell of his former self as he made his featherweight debut, becoming the first UFC fighter to compete in four different weight classes. The 35-year-old Hawaiian, who drew a large cheer after the fight, suggested he was finished as a fighter.

"I shouldn't have come back," he said. "I shouldn't have been in the ring tonight. Frankie did a great job. Much respect to him."

Edgar (17-4-1) deferred to his opponent afterward.

"I have a lot of respect for BJ," Edgar said. "This is a bittersweet victory. I almost feel bad about it."

After spending the majority of the first round on the flat of his back, Penn fell victim to an Edgar takedown 90 seconds into Round 2. Edgar controlled Penn on the mat for the remainder of the round, with Penn content to defend; Edgar finally broke through with a pair of late shots that appeared to stagger his opponent.

It was more of the same in Round 3, with Edgar scoring an easy takedown and busting Penn open with a well-placed elbow. Edgar continued pounding a labored Penn in the head with rights before referee Herb Dean finally ended the rout 4:16 into the round. 

In other main-card action:

• Anderson pummeled Matt Van Buren from the start, finally knocking him to the ground and subduing him with lefts before Mario Yamasaki stopped the light-heavyweight fight at 1:01. Anderson reportedly landed 36 strikes during the bout to preserve his unbeaten record. 

• Gordon overwhelmed Dhiego Lima 1:11 into their bout with a flurry of punches to claim the middleweight title. Gordon staggered Lima with an overhand right and kept the pressure on for another 40 seconds before the referee stepped in.

• Heavyweight Derrick Lewis recorded an emphatic knockout of Guto Inocente, drilling him with a series of right hands just 3:30 into the contest. Lewis improved to 11-2 while extending his run of fights that just don't last very long:

• Dustin Ortiz overcame a first-round armbar attempt to outlast Justin Scoggins by split decision in a spirited flyweight scrap. Ortiz won by scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 to hand Scoggins his first career loss.