Frankie Edgar had a very rough night at UFC 222 this past Saturday. For the first time in his storied MMA career, Edgar was finished by Brian Ortega. ‘The Answer’ has now issued his first statement since that nasty first round finish…
Heading into this past Saturday’s UFC 222 co-main event, fans were excited to see Frankie Edgar and Brian Ortega square off. Originally scheduled to fight for the title against champion Max Holloway, Edgar instead faced ‘T City’ when Holloway was injured.
Although Ortega is an undefeated prospect, Edgar was still favored by the oddsmakers. Renowned for his durability and ability to bounce back from the direst situations, Edgar was expected by many to get the win.
Cliched as it may be, a fighter can only take so many big shots and harrowing wars before it starts catching up. This isn’t to say Edgar is done but he certainly couldn’t withstand the younger and fresher man in Ortega.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf5QtnwDxF7/?hl=en&taken-by=shanefazen
Lifted up Off The Canvas
That perfectly executed uppercut from the clinch ended the night in brutal fashion. Edgar was defeated by stoppage for the first time in his career and Ortega took the title shot that belonged to Edgar before they fought.
You have to respect Edgar for taking the fight and not holding out for the title shot at a later date. As ever, ‘The Answer’ is a fighter’s fighter and one you have to respect.
Taking to his Twitter account, Edgar was respectful and thankful in his first statement since UFC 222:
Saturday did not go as planned, congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones. Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don't go unnoticed. All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.
— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) March 5, 2018
So Whats Next?
That’s a tough question as far as Edgar is concerned. He was meant to fight for the title, but now with Ortega getting the win, Edgar is left needing to again build momentum at 145 pounds.
Perhaps a move to 135 pounds would be prudent? The cut is certainly no man’s friend, but for the first time in his career Edgar could actually be the bigger fighter at bantamweight.
Talking to media at the post-fight press conference, Ortega was somewhat brutally honest about his win over Edgar:
I look for the kill all the time. I’m happy he was pressing forward, that we were both banging it out, and I caught him slippin’.
I felt a couple punches land, maybe like two overhand rights, and the crowd was like going “ahhhh!” and I was like, is this all he has? Not disrespecting his power, but when’s the shocker gonna come in? It didn’t come in, so I was like, I’m gonna press forward, I’m not feelin’ the damage right now… and I did. H/T MMAMania.com for the quotes.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world and in the UFC it really is a place of no mercy. Edgar, for all his incredible wins and ferocity inside the octagon, was simply no match for the younger lion.
