Will Frankie Edgar have an answer for Conor McGregor?
All of a sudden it’s 2015 all over again. Conor McGregor is being heavily linked to a return to the UFC in early 2020. The big question is who will he fight? There are a shortage of over-50s on the roster these days, so the Notorious will probably have to make do with somebody closer to his age.
Frankie Edgar is one of the sport’s top veterans. He’s been around the game for a long time and has fought the best-of-the-best along the way. Incredibly, despite his size, he’s also a former lightweight champion. However, he had hinted that he was set to finally make the step down to 135lbs. Fans have been calling for him to do that for years.
If Conor McGregor’s head coach has his way, Edgar will actually move back up to 155lbs. SBG Ireland trainer John Kavanagh wants his star pupil to take on ‘The Answer’ before the end of the year and reignite his career.
Great Fight
Kavanagh is one of the most respected MMA coaches in the world today, although some believe he has ridden off of the success of his one-and-only champion McGregor. A mild-mannered and composed figure, Kavanagh is the antithesis of his fellow Irishman. He told The Mac Life who he wants McGregor to fight next:
“I think him and Frankie Edgar would be a great fight. I think it was in the works when Conor was kind of going on that featherweight tear. He’s an ex-champion, great fighter. Yeah, if it was me, I would love to see the Frankie Edgar fight this year if possible. And then go on another run in 2020.”
Would you like to see this fight happen?
Familiar
The SBG Ireland head coach explained his reasoning behind this. Basically he thinks Edgar is beatable and this would be ideal for McGregor to get back on track. He said:
“Frankie has a style that’s very difficult to deal with. But it’s also one we’re somewhat familiar with. Even from his first fight with [Marcus] Brimage. This small, fast guy, quick hands, wrestling. But Frankie’s just been in there with everybody. World champion, beaten legends like B.J. Penn and so on. I just think that’s a great match for the fans and for me. I’d love to see it.”
‘The Highlight’
Fans are bound to be less enthusiastic about such a fight. The man with the main claim to fighting McGregor right now is the ferocious Justin Gaethje. A fight between the two would make total sense because of their respective places in the lightweight rankings. The winner would then definitely be able to justify fighting for the title next time out.
It all depends on what McGregor wants. Arguably, taking a massive clash against Khabib Nurmagamedov two years after his last fight wasn’t a smart move. Taking on Edgar and then going after Gaethje in early 2020 could be a very smart move. Of course, he’d have to get past ‘The Answer’ first and you can guarantee Edgar would have something to say about all that.
