Frankie Edgar News

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

Frankie Edgar last fought just a few weeks ago, when he was knocked out by surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega in the first round of the UFC 222 co-main event. Despite this recent, concussive loss to Ortega, Edgar will fight again on April 21 in Atlantic City, where he will rematch fellow featherweight veteran Cub Swanson. Given that Edgar was knocked out so recently, many fans and pundits feel he should be taking a little more time off before he gets back in there. It’s the same kind of criticism Michael Bisping received for fighting Kelvin Gastelum mere weeks after he was defeated by Georges St-Pierre.

Drake Riggs - March 26, 2018

All good things must come to an end… It just depends on when! And the time was not now for veteran featherweight, Cub Swanson. Swanson has had twenty-two fights in the UFC and WEC combined. A fan favorite in the aforementioned WEC, Swanson’s popularity carried over to the UFC after the organization was absorbed and his name value only began to grow from there. All you need to do is look at his eight fight of the night awards to see the evidence.

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Despite not being able to fight twice now, Max Holloway isn’t through with Frankie Edgar. Both seem to be moving on – Holloway defending against Brian Ortega, with Edgar in talks to fight Cub Swanson – but Holloway is confident they’ll meet eventually. He also went on record in defense of the former UFC lightweight champion, as well as Jose Aldo. “Me and Frankie [Edgar] still got unfinished business. Everyone is talking about Frankie and [Jose] Aldo like they’re two dead guys. They say, ‘Too washed up.’ They’re still animals. They’ve been at the top of the heap. They’ve been top-five, top-three in any division they were in, forever. People keep talking about how these guys are old; we’ll see. You can’t speak on it yet. It’s a couple losses. It’s MMA.”

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

When Californian featherweight Brian Ortega knocked out Frankie Edgar at UFC 222, he usurped the New Jersey native’s spot as the division’s number one contender. Ortega is now poised to challenge reigning featherweight champion Max Holloway for the title, just as soon as the champ is fighting fit. Speaking on The MMA Hour this week, Holloway explained that, while he’s very excited to fight the undefeated Ortega, he can also envision a world where Edgar racks up a few wins  and earns another title shot.

Justin Golightly - March 15, 2018

Most of the things Conor McGregor gets into aren’t straight forward. There are layers, plot twists, double meanings. Everyone scoffed at his comment that he was going to step up to fight Frankie Edgar, but after UFC 222 Dana White admitted it was true. One thing he didn’t comment on though, was the rumored addition of a 165-pound title. As striking coach Owen Roddy broke down the prep leading up to this actually happening, he also revealed a new kernel of information regarding the “super lightweight” title. “I got the call from Conor [McGregor] almost a little under a month out, just kind of out of the blue, ‘Oh yeah, look, [Max] Holloway’s out of the fight, they’re looking for a replacement to fight Frankie so I’m up for it, I’m thinking of doing it’. So I was like, ‘well, alright, let’s see what the craic is,’ and we went in and he sparred. He hadn’t sparred too hard in a while, so like went in and had a good, tough spar with one of the guys similar to Frankie’s size, similar style and stuff like that, and then looked amazing. […] He got back the next day saying that the fight’s gone, that the fight was unavailable now. So yeah. But he was up for it and he was ready to go. And you know, he was putting it in as well. Conor’s been training up here, so he’s got the bug again which is great, but unfortunately that one didn’t come to pass.”

Justin Golightly - March 14, 2018

There was a lot of history made at UFC 222 a couple of weeks ago. Frankie Edgar was not only finished for the first time in his epic career, but it was the first time he wasn’t able to stop a contender from getting past him at featherweight. Most of the time ‘gatekeeper’ is used as an insult regarding fighting, but Edgar literally held the key for years, only beaten by Jose Aldo himself in the division. With his second belt seemingly out of reach now, coach Mark Henry would love to see Edgar at bantamweight fighting for a title. “I’ll tell you one thing: I would love to see Frankie [Edgar] fight at 135. Every time Frankie has fought somebody his own size, he’s done very well. I re-watched the fight for the first time this weekend, and all these people had tweeted about how much bigger Brian [Ortega] looked. I watched it and said, ‘Holy cow, he was a lot bigger.’ It’s tough when you’re giving up size, height and range. Frankie got caught as he overstepped. He paid the price, but that’s what you have to do to compensate for that range. You have to come hard.”

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the co-main event of the action-packed UFC 222, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar risked the featherweight title shot he had so clearly earned in a short-notice bout with surging contender Brian Ortega. Unfortunately for Edgar, this bout went disastrously, as he was put down by an Ortega in the uppercut in the very first round of the fight. This knockout loss marked the first time Edgar had ever been finished in his illustrious career. It also meant that his claim to a featherweight title shot had been dashed – quite possibly forever. As such, it’s no surprise that this loss caused absolute devastation among his cornermen, who watched on nervously from cage-side.

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

.@MightyMouseUFC offering up some kind words of motivation to @FrankieEdgar while looking back on his own loss to @DominickCruz. #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/BAmo8y2Dvb — Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) March 6, 2018

Chris Taylor - March 4, 2018

Frankie Edgar’s coach issues emotional statement following KO loss to Brian Ortega Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (22-6-1 MMA) suffered the first stoppage loss of his legendary mixed martial arts career to Brian Ortega at last night’s UFC 222 event in Las Vegas.

Chris Taylor - March 3, 2018

UFC 222 Results: Brian Ortega KO’s Frankie Edgar A key featherweight bout between top division contenders Frankie Edgar and Brian Ortega served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC 222 fight card in Las Vegas.

Justin Golightly - March 3, 2018

.@briantcity reveals he’w starting the Brian Ortega Foundation and T-City Scholarship to give back to the kids in his community: “I just want to make them smile and have some fun with them.” #UFC #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/0VK4eH7L3X — José Youngs (@JoseYoungs) March 1, 2018

Justin Golightly - March 3, 2018

In just a few hours, all eyes are going to be on Brian Ortega in his high-profile, large stakes fight with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Correction, all eyes will be on the ground. Ortega is on a crazy 13-fight win streak and 7 of those are all by submission. His latest sub was against elite featherweight Cub Swanson and he’ll look to do the same tonight at UFC 222. However, he’s been doing it long before he stepped inside an MMA cage. #UFC222 co-headliner @BrianTcity is the real deal, but you may also want to keep your eye on his lil bro. More from Ortega here: https://t.co/Cxn5uXL62i pic.twitter.com/JCd4uxJF4N

Justin Golightly - February 27, 2018

Frankie Edgar has been pretty quiet since Conor McGregor came out with the news that he offered to fight the former lightweight champion at UFC 222. It’s now been confirmed by two sources that this fight was going to be for the 165-pound title, however Edgar still says he was never approached about it. It doesn’t matter though, he says he’d fight McGregor at any weight if he was actually offered the fight. “I woke up from a nap and I saw [news about Conor McGregor saying he was supposed to step in to fight me at UFC 222] it on Twitter. That’s the first I heard of it. I mean, come on, there is no 165-pound belt. You know what I’m saying? I want to fight on the moon. You know what I mean? Come on. [Conor McGregor] doesn’t want to defend his own belt. What, he wants to fight me? I mean, hey, that’d be great. That’d be great for me. Let’s be real. I’m not scared to fight anybody. Come on, I’ve been doing too long to be scared to fight anybody. I mean, if anything, that would be very good for me, to fight Conor McGregor.

Justin Golightly - February 23, 2018

Conor McGregor speaks and all hell breaks loose. Yesterday, the self-proclaimed Champ Champ™ revealed that he wanted to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 when Max Holloway was forced to pull out. The Instagram post rocketed up to a million likes in several hours and next thing you know, Frankie Edgar’s manger and coach were releasing sizzling statements about the claim. But Ali Abdel-Aziz wasn’t done, he got on TMZ Sports and went off over McGregor in a rant that’s been building up for over three years. “Let me talk to you about Conor McGregor. He’s like a prostitute that used to make high dollar money, but who got old and nobody wanted anymore. You understand? This is what he is. This f-cking guy, for three years he did everything he can not to fight Frankie Edgar. He was supposed to fight Frankie Edgar and he chose Chad Mendes coming off a loss, camping, over Frankie. He had so much opportunity, now he wants to f-cking fight Frankie? It’s funny, because as soon as Max [Holloway] got hurt, coach Mark Henry told me to reach out to the UFC and ask if Conor could step in. I did call the UFC, they said, ‘Dude, we can’t even get him to fight in his own weight class, he’s not gonna f-cking fight Frankie.'”

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

The fire just keeps roaring and spreading. Conor McGregor lit the MMA world ablaze by saying he was going to step in to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222. Immediately, Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz put the Irishman on blast on social media and to ESPN. Now, Edgar’s coach Mark Henry took to Instagram to write a lengthy post calling Conor McGregor’s bluff. While partly complimentary, Henry takes serious issue with McGregor’s character. “When you bring up Frankie Edgar’s name, that’s the perfect picture for you Conor McGregor. You ducked him three times in the past, Edgar and his manager Ali Abdel-Aziz asked for Conor’s name specifically when Max went down, but we knew you only take stylistically what is a good match for you and you ducked him three times already. It’s bad enough you post crappy posts putting people down when you have never defended a title cut lines to titles and 90-percent of the time fight people in your comfort zone. I agree Conor is an amazing, amazing fighter and has transcended the game with his accent, personality, wit, incredible fighting style, power, intelligence and don’t forget trashing people some of the best stand-up I’ve ever seen in MMA, which beat a great and one of my own guys. I really thought he had a chance first two rounds to beat [Floyd] Mayweather.”

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

Earlier today, Conor McGregor served an appetizer to those that are eagerly awaiting his return to the Octagon. The self-proclaimed Champ Champ™ came out of nowhere and went on record saying that he actually offered to step up and wipe out the ‘final featherweight’ Frankie Edgar in place of Max Holloway at UFC 222. According to him, the UFC wasn’t able to ‘generate the money’ to put it together. Before the steam even cleared even cleared from that heat, Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz was already speaking out about the claim. On McGregor’s claim he offered to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222, Edgar’s manager @AliAbdelaziz00 tells me, “He’s full a s—. He’s a liar. He should have fought Frankie two years ago.”

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

After Brian Ortega submitted Cub Swanson at UFC Fresno, everyone was asking him if he was going to fight UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway next. His answer? He’d let Frankie Edgar get his shot first. Normally, nice guys finish last in this combat sports game, but for Ortega it looks like things have worked out. After the title bout between Edgar and Holloway has fallen through twice, Ortega jumped at the chance to fight Edgar not only to guarantee he fights for the belt next, but to get over with the fans and the UFC. “When you think about it, there’s guys and there’s fighters who have waited before that got promised a title shot and things never happened. For whatever reason, they had to fight again and it just never happened. So, the way I looked at it, this [fight with Frankie Edgar] is a blessing in disguise. I beat Frankie and it insures a for sure title shot without question, without wait. If I beat Frankie, automatically the fight between myself and Max [Holloway] will get booked. So, I figured why wait and keep your fingers crossed for that shot, wait even longer to fight and get a little cold?”

Justin Golightly - February 20, 2018

Frankie Edgar has finally got a fight after his anticipated scrap with UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has fallen through twice. At UFC 222 in just under two weeks, he’ll test his infamous pressure, boxing and grinding wrestling on slick Brian Ortega. From one wrestler to another, Edgar recently spoke up about Ben Askren since the UFC on FOX Twitter account had curiously mentioned the former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion. He him a lot of respect and thinks he could have a shot against St-Pierre. “I would love to see [Ben] Askren in the UFC. I think it’s a shame that he hasn’t been here. I think people, or at least Dana [White] and whoever the UFC brass don’t want to see him go out there and wrestle guys to death and whatnot, but he’s out there wrestling and finishing guys now. The dude doesn’t get hit and it’s pretty impressive. Yeah, that’s like the, ‘Who would win out of [Georges St-Pierre] or him?’ That’s something people have been talking about for a long time and he’s got the ability to make that fight very interesting just because of his wrestling ability. Typically Georges is the guy with the wrestling ability, but against Ben I think Ben might have a hand in there.”—Frankie Edgar speaking on the MMA Roasted podcast.