Real Hardcore UFC fans know how tough and great a prime Frankie Edgar was. He was a smaller guy fighting the bigger guys in the lightweight division. He has fought and guys like BJ Penn and Gray Maynard. He ended up winning the lightweight belt and even defended it three times, still a great title run.
After losing the title against Benson Henderson, he decided to move down a weight class and attempt to win the featherweight belt. In his featherweight debut, he immediately faced probably the greatest featherweight of all time, Jose Aldo. He fell short and loss via unanimous decision.
He still continued to stay in the featherweight division since he only loss to the best in the division. It later paid dividends as he demolished all of the top contenders like Chad Mendes, Yair Rodriguez, Charles Oliveira and a lot more. To think that he only fell short to Jose Aldo once more is a testament on how good he was in the featherweight division.
Frankie Edgar was more than a gatekeeper, he was more ore less top 3 in the division. One of Edgar’s best quality as a fighter is his heart and grit in the fight. When he fought Gray Maynard, he got in trouble several times but later made one of the greatest comeback even ended up finishing Maynard in the fourth round. It was one of the greatest fights to watch in UFC history.
Edgar then fought for the featherweight title for the third time against Max Holloway but sadly fell short. Even Alexander Volkanovski has approved of giving the title shot prior, shows tremendous respect by to the UFC veteran.
Edgar’s chin is also one of the best considering he got his first knockout loss after 28 fights when he fought Brian Ortega on short notice. It was pretty clear that Edgar was always the smaller fighter in every exchange and it showed.
From being a lightweight Champion and ended up a top contender of the bantamweight division shows how small his natural weight is. Some cut weight heavily just to have a size advantage come fight night but Edgar just outwrestled bigger guys using skills and technique.
In his bantamweight debut, he faced a tough and durable Pedro Munhoz. It was an intense fight that had great back and forth. It ended in a close split decision in favor of Edgar. After all these years of fighting, Edgar still competes with the younger and faster fighters show how great Edgar is.
He is now scheduled to face Cory Sandhagen which is a dangerous fight for him at UFC FN 172 on 6 February. Sandhagen is coming off an impressive knockout win against Marlon Moraes. Edgar will likely use his wrestling to close the distance against a high level striker like Sandhagen.
It is unfortunate that not many fans know who Frankie Edgar is, most only know Conor McGregor knocking out Jose Aldo. Fans need to appreciate how good Edgar was in his prime and is still fighting to this day at 39 years old.
