Frankie Edgar says he’d absolutely take a fight with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski if offered.
With the featherweight title changing hands at UFC 245, there’s suddenly a lot more on the line for [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag].
Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) steps in on short notice this Saturday, when he takes on Chan Sung Jung (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN+ 23 headliner in Busan, South Korea. The full card streams live on ESPN+.
With [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] dethroning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, who was coming off a title defense over Edgar, a win over top contender Jung could potentially put Edgar next in line.
Initially scheduled to make his bantamweight debut against Cory Sandhagen on Jan. 25, it appears that Edgar is willing to put that move on hold, if bigger opportunities arise.
“I would absolutely take a fight against Volkanovski,” Edgar said in an interview with Rank5. “I’m in it to fight the best guys; that’s why I’m fighting Chan. I came into this sport to be a champion, and if it’s not at ’45 or ’35 or ’55, then what am I doing?”
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Edgar was expected to face “The Korean Zombie” in November 2018, but “The Answer” was forced out of the planned bout due to a bicep injury. Just over a year later, Edgar is jumping at the chance to potentially add another accomplished featherweight to his resume.
“I felt like it’s kind of a little bit ‘unfinished business,’ you know?” Edgar asked. “I was really close to fighting him. I believe he wanted to fight me; I know I wanted to fight him, and to have a guy like Chan on my record, is something that I wanted – wanted to have, and luckily this opportunity came up.”
In a matchup that pits two tough veterans, Edgar is expecting a war with Jung this Saturday.
“You know, I think what makes it intriguing is fighting ‘Korean Zombie’ here in his home country, the style he brings, I mean they call him the ‘Zombie’ for a reason,” Edgar said. “He takes a beating, keeps coming – you can’t really rput him away. He fights with a ton of heart, and I consider myself a guy that fights that way as well.”
The best stats and figures about UFC on ESPN+ 23, which features a Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung main event.
The UFC’s final event of the year – and the decade – takes place Saturday with UFC on ESPN+ 23. The 13-fight lineup goes down at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea and streams entirely on ESPN+.
A matchup of featherweight contenders headlines the card. After the original booking between [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) and [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) fell through in November 2018, the pair will finally share the octagon.
For more on the numbers behind the main event, check below for 60 pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN+ 23.
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Main event
Frankie Edgar
Edgar, 38, is the oldest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
Edgar’s five losses in UFC championship fights are tied with B.J. Penn for most in company history behind Randy Couture (six).
Edgar is 8-4 since he dropped to the UFC featherweight division in February 2013.
Edgar’s total fight time of 7:12:33 in UFC competition is the most in company history.
Edgar’s 1,559 significant strikes landed in UFC competition are third most in company history behind Max Holloway (2,071) and Michael Bisping (1,567).
Edgar’s 68 takedowns landed in UFC competition are tied for fourth most in company history behind Georges St-Pierre (90), Gleison Tibau (84) and Demetrious Johnson (74).
Edgar’s 259 total strikes landed against Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 57 are the second most in a single UFC/WEC featherweight contest behind Holloway’s 307 against Brian Ortega at UFC 231.
Edgar’s submission of Swanson at the 4:56 mark of Round 5 at UFC Fight Night 57 is tied for the third-latest stoppage in a UFC bout behind Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186 (4:59, Round 5) and Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night 139 (4:59, Round 5).
Edgar is one of two fighters in UFC history to defeat a single opponent on three separate occasions inside the octagon. He did so against B.J. Penn. Tito Ortiz (Ken Shamrock) also accomplished the feat.
Edgar is the only fighter in UFC history to suffer three knockdowns in a single round and not lose the fight. The feat occurred in his UFC 125 draw with Gray Maynard.
Chan Sung Jung
Jung competes in his sixth consecutive UFC headliner. He’s 3-2 in previous main event fights.
Jung is the only South Korean fighter in history to challenge for a UFC title. He lost to then-champ Jose Aldo at UFC 163 in August 2013.
Jung has alternated wins and losses in his past five fights. He won his most recent bout at UFC on ESPN+ 21.
Jung is 2-1 since he returned from a more than three-year layoff from competition in February 2017.
Jung has earned 14 of his 16 career victories by stoppage. That includes all five of his UFC wins.
Jung’s 6.2-second knockout of Mark Hominick at UFC 140 is the third fastest knockout in UFC history behind Jorge Masvidal’s five-second win at UFC 239 and Duane Ludwig’s six-second finish at UFC Fight Night 3.
Jung is the only featherweight in UFC/WEC combined history to earn multiple knockout wins in less than one minute.
Jung registered the first twister submission finish in UFC history when he defeated Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24. Bryce Mitchell has the only other finish using the technique in company history.
Jung has received seven fight-night bonus in seven UFC fights.
Jung’s seven fight-night bonuses for UFC featherweight bouts are tied with Holloway, Cub Swanson and Yair Rodriguez for most in divisional history.
Co-main event
Volkan Oezdemir
[autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has earned 13 of his 16 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 12 of those wins by knockout.
Oezdemir is one of eight modern-era fighters to earn back-to-back knockouts in less than one minute each. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Walt Harris, Francis Ngannou, Johnny Walker, Mike Swick, Caio Magalhaes and Ilir Latifi also accomplished the feat.
Oezdemir lands 5.04 significant strikes per minute in UFC light heavyweight competition, the second highest rate among active fighter in the weight class behind Ion Cutelaba (5.27).
Aleksander Rakic
[autotag]Aleksander Rakic[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) enters the event on a 12-fight winning streak. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since his MMA debut in October 2011.
Rakic’s four-fight UFC winning streak in light heavyweight competition is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Dominick Reyes (six).
Rakic has earned 10 of his 12 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished nine of those wins by knockout.
Rakic is one of seven fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning backfist. He accomplished the feat at UFC 231.
Rakic landed 78 significant ground strikes at UFC Fight Night 134, the single-fight record for a UFC light heavyweight bout.
Remaining main card
Dooho Choi
[autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Jan. 14, 2019. The 351-day layoff is the longest of his more than 10-year career.
Choi enters the event on the first losing skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2016.
Choi’s average fight time of 5:26 in UFC featherweight competition is the second shortest in divisional history behind Mike de la Torre (4:25).
Choi has earned all three of his UFC victories by first-round knockout in a total fight time of four minutes and 33 seconds.
Choi’s 18-second knockout of Juan Puig at UFC Fight Night 57 stands as the second-fastest debut in UFC featherweight history behind Makwan Amirkhani’s eight-second win at UFC on FOX 14.
[autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), 24, is the youngest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
Da Un Jung
[autotag]Da Un Jung[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) enters the event on an 11-fight winning streak. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since October 2015.
[autotag]Kyung Ho Kang[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is 3-1 since he returned to competition from a nearly 3.5-year layoff in January 2018.
Kang has completed at least one takedown in seven of his eight UFC appearances.
Kang lands 64 percent of his takedown attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Preliminary card
Ciryl Gane
[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) makes his third UFC appearance since debuting with the promotion in August.
Gane has earned all five of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished both of his UFC wins by submission.
Gane’s victory at 4:46 of Round 3 at UFC on ESPN+ 20 is the latest submission in a UFC heavyweight fight.
[autotag]Dong Hyun Ma[/autotag] (16-10-3 MMA, 3-4 UFC) is 3-3 since he dropped to the UFC lightweight division in June 2016.
Alexandre Pantoja
[autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) lands 4.40 significant strikes per minute in UFC flyweight competition, the second highest rate in divisional history behind John Lineker (5.43).
[autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]’s (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak in flyweight competition is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Henry Cejudo (four).
Schnell’s victory at 1:23 of Round 1 at UFC on ESPN 5 is second fastest submission in UFC flyweight history.
Schnell earned the first triangle choke submission in UFC flyweight history at UFC on ESPN 5.
Schnell’s two submission victories by triangle choke in UFC competition are tied for the most in company history.
Said Nurmagomedov
[autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is one of five fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning back kick to the body. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN+ 2.
[autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] (6-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since July 16, 2017. The 888-day layoff is the longest of her more than five-year career.
Lemos drops two weight classes to the strawweight division after making her UFC debut at women’s bantamweight.
[autotag]Ryan Benoit[/autotag] (10-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Nov. 18, 2017. The 763-day layoff is the longest of his nearly 11-year career.
Benoit moves up to the UFC bantamweight division after spending his previous promotional appearances at flyweight.
Benoit has alternated wins and losses over his past nine fights. He won his most recent bout at UFC Fight Night 121 in November 2018.
Benoit is one of three fighters to earn a knockout victory stemming from a head kick in UFC flyweight history. Louis Smolka and Dustin Ortiz also accomplished the feat.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
We want your predictions for UFC on ESPN+ 23 in Busan, South Korea.
We want your predictions for this week’s UFC on ESPN+ 23 event in South Korea.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the UFC on ESPN+ 23 event staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Saturday at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. The card streams on ESPN+.
Make your picks for all six main card fights inside.
New main event means new-look poster for UFC on ESPN+ 23.
UFC on ESPN+ 23 momentarily lost its main event matchup when Brian Ortega was forced out of his fight because of a torn ACL.
He was originally scheduled to take on [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] next week in the Dec. 21 headliner, but it didn’t take long for the UFC to find an answer.
Enter former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag], who will step in to save the day. Currently slated to still make his bantamweight debut vs. Cory Sandhagen on Jan. 25 at UFC Raleigh, Edgar will be squeezing in one more fight before the end of the year to the chagrin of Sandhagen.
“The Korean Zombie” will still get to make the walk on home soil, as he looks to continue his climb back towards featherweight title contention. The two originally were scheduled to face off in 2018 in Denver before an injury forced Edgar out of the bout.
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Edgar was replaced by Yair Rodriguez, and in an unfortunate outcome for Jung, he suffered the “Knockout of the Year” in the final second of a fight that he was winning on the judges’ scorecards. “The Korean Zombie” did, however, rebound with a first-round finish of Renato Moicano in June.
In advance of UFC Busan, the promotion has released a new official poster. You can check it out below (via Twitter):
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Frankie Edgar says he still intends to drop down to bantamweight, but he simply could not resist fighting “The Korean Zombie.”
Former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] was about a month away from making his bantamweight debut, but instead he’ll be taking on a top-ranked featherweight.
Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) is stepping in on short notice for an injured Brian Ortega to take on [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN+ 23 headliner Dec. 21 in Busan, South Korea.
Edgar initially was scheduled to take on Cory Sandhagen at 135 pounds on Jan. 25, but Edgar says he took “The Korean Zombie” fight because he wanted to stay active.
In his last outing, Edgar fell short in capturing the UFC featherweight title, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway in July. It was his first fight of 2019 and his first fight in 15 months.
“You know I’ve been trying to get a fight since November,” Edgar said Tuesday on “The Luke Thomas Show”. “I thought I was going to be on the (UFC 244) card. I kind of was in camp for a little bit for that, then it fell through, then I was going to be on the Dec. 14 card that’s coming up now. That kinda fell through, so when this opportunity came up, I wanted to get a fight. I only fought once this last, I think, 18 (months). I only fought once, and I didn’t want that to happen again for this year, so I jumped at the opportunity.”
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With the Sandhagen fight still tentatively scheduled for only a month after UFC Busan, it seems unlikely that Edgar will come out completely unscathed and ready to compete Jan. 25.
The plan, however, is still to make the drop down to 135 pounds.
“I’m going to get there eventually,” Edgar said. “Just a little hiccup on the way.
“I’m really not that heavy. It’s just … actually when I found out that I was fighting (Jung), I had to gain a little bit of weight for this one, so I think I need to be at (135) in the future.”
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“The Korean Zombie” is one of the top-ranked 145 pounders, so a win over Jung should put Edgar right back in the title picture. And while Edgar thinks it’s unlikely that a win would earn him a title shot, he wouldn’t be opposed to it.
“Right away? No, I don’t think so, but winning only does good things,” Edgar said. “But no, I don’t think I’ll get a title shot right away at (145) if I do win, just based off one win, especially if (Max Holloway wins at UFC 245).
“I’m not really expecting to fight for a title at (145). Would I turn it down? absolutely not.”
Frankie Edgar’s next fight won’t mark his debut at bantamweight, after all.
[autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag]’s next fight won’t mark his debut at bantamweight, after all.
Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) will remain at featherweight for at least one more fight. The former UFC lightweight champion has agreed to meet [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN+ 23 main event later this month after Brian Ortega (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) withdrew from the card due to a knee injury.
MMA Junkie verified the change with multiple persons with knowledge of the booking following an initial report from ESPN.com. The persons requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Dec. 21 at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
After a lengthy stint at 145 pounds that included three failed title bids, Edgar announced he would finally move to bantamweight for his next fight. He’s already been booked against Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ESPN+ 24 on Jan. 25, but will first take on Jung. Edgar reportedly still wants to fight Sandhagen, but will first have the bout against Jung.
Jung, better known as “The Korean Zombie,” still gets his homecoming fight. He is coming off a knockout win over Renato Moicano at UFC on ESPN+ 12 in June and will attempt to make it two straight against Edgar, whom he was originally supposed to fight at UFC Fight Night 129 in November 2018.
Aljamain Sterling is intrigued by the decisions of two new additions to the UFC’s bantamweight division.
[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] is intrigued by the decisions of two new additions to the UFC’s bantamweight division.
Speaking on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast, top bantamweight contender Sterling (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who’s currently recovering from a wrist injury, said he’s not quite sure why former UFC champions and likely future UFC Hall of Famers [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] and [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] are making the move down to 135 pounds at this point in their careers.
Aldo is scheduled to take on Marlon Moraes at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, and Edgar meets Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh on Jan. 25. Another recent addition to the division is Urijah Faber, who took out Ricky Simon in his comeback and will now take on Petr Yan at UFC 245.
Should any of the three emerge victorious, they could very well be next in line for a title shot against current champion Henry Cejudo. But Sterling hopes that won’t be the case.
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“Two belts in two different weight classes would be historic, but they’re old in fight years, they’re older in age, and they’re fighting guys who are almost a decade younger than them – so it’s going to be very interesting to see how they do,” Sterling said. “I’m not wishing them any type of ill will, but at the same time, I just wish they hug each other for 15 minutes and have boring fights.
“I don’t really understand or can make much sense out of it. I’m like, ‘You guys established yourselves as (1)45-ers – to come down at that age, that late in your career, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.’ It’s the last Hail Mary. It’s the last hurrah for another title shot and one more chance for them to become a champion again in another weight class.”
Sterling, who was scheduled to welcome Edgar to the bantamweight division before being forced out due to injury, is enjoying his best career run. He has won his past four fights, including victories over Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz. He thinks an established bantamweight like himself should be getting the next crack at the title.
“I hope all the guys coming down in weight class have an egg of a fight, and leave us real bantamweights who’ve been here, putting in the work, to get a shot,” Sterling said.
“I hope they have boring fights so our last fights stick out the most. All the old guys coming down – Faber, Edgar, Aldo – I hope they just get tired and just hug each other.”
Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos, Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirer, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson, and more make the list.
There have been numerous highly anticipated UFC matchups that have fallen through over the years because of unfortunate circumstances, and they easily could’ve produced fireworks.
From championship fights, to rivalries, to intriguing stylistic pairings, here are 10 of the best scheduled matchups that never ended up happening.
****
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson
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While it appears that another [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] fight booking is imminent at the time of this writing, let’s just hope the fifth time is the charm.
These two were scheduled to fight on four other occasions, but a series of unfortunate circumstances and injuries has resulted in it never happening. The first booking was during The Ultimate Fighter Finale card on Dec. 11, 2015, when Nurmagomedov was forced out due to injury and replaced by Edson Barboza. Ferguson submitted Barboza in the second round via D’Arce choke, earning both “Performance” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses.
They were then scheduled to fight at UFC on FOX 19 on April 16, 2016, but this time it was Ferguson who pulled out. Ferguson was replaced by newcomer Darrell Horcher, whom Nurmagomedov battered before earning a second-round TKO win.
Then, an interim lightweight championship fight was scheduled to take place at UFC 209 on March 4, 2017, but the fight was canceled due to Nurmagomedov falling ill from a bad weight cut.
Finally, the two were set to meet a fourth time. At UFC 223 in April 2018, Nurmagomedov and then-interim champ Ferguson were going to fight for the undisputed lightweight title. But in a freak accident, Ferguson tripped over a wire and blew out his knee. Max Holloway stepped in briefly, but the New York State Athletic Commission deemed Holloway unfit to compete due to a severe weight cut. Al Iaquinta, who was scheduled to face Paul Felder on the same night, stepped in for the massive opportunity but was dominated by Nurmagomedov in a five-round battle.
Nurmagomedov finally realized his dream of becoming the UFC lightweight champ, and here’s hoping the fight with Ferguson will finally come to fruition in early 2020 as expected.
Frankie Edgar sees the upside in his matchup with Cory Sandhagen.
[autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] will be introduced to the bantamweight division by a hungry rising contender.
Edgar is set to fight [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] on Jan. 25 at UFC Raleigh, and he sees the matchup against a top-ranked contender as a good opportunity for a fast climb up the division.
“He’s very dangerous. He’s No. 3 (in the official UFC rankings), and I still want to fight the best guys in my career, and I feel like fighting No. 3 is a good way to debut at this new weight class,” Edgar said in the latest episode of “UFC Unfiltered”.
While many are viewing the matchup as a prospect vs. veteran fight and a way for Sandhagen (12-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) to build his name, Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) believes he also has a lot to gain.
“For a guy like Cory to come in and fight someone like myself is definitely good for him, but to me I’m looking at it (like) he’s No. 3, and it’s definitely a good way to get myself on a ladder in the 135-pound division,” Edgar said.
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For years, Edgar has been pestered by those around him to make the move down to 135 pounds. Always undersized, the former UFC lightweight champion decided that he might as well oblige, considering that he has fallen short on numerous occasions in pursuit of the featherweight title.
“I don’t know, man. Everyone’s been telling for years to go down,” Edgar said. “My coaches were telling me for a while, and I fought for the ’45-pound belt a couple times, came up short. I felt like now’s the time if I’m going to do it ever.”
However, Edgar’s introduction to bantamweight will be against a 5-foot-11 and long Sandhagen, which once again would put Edgar at a sizable height and reach disadvantage.
Edgar doesn’t expect the transition to be that easy, but hopes that in some matchups down the line, he won’t be as undersized.
“Hopefully you don’t fight guys as long and tall. This guy I’m fighting is just as tall, so it don’t matter, but maybe I can be the bigger guy,” Edgar said. “Although I don’t think I’ll be the biggest guy at bantamweight, but I’m not going to be giving up as much size as say, 145, but I mean you got to take into consideration the guys are going to be quicker down at bantamweight, as well. So it doesn’t mean it’s going to be smooth sailing 100 percent. Of course, each weight class has their own challenges.”
“Not to sound punny, but I don’t think ‘the answer’ for (Frankie Edgar) was to come down in weight”
[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] isn’t going to lie.
He’s always been a [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag] fan, which makes things difficult when he thinks about their Jan. 25 matchup in the co-main event of UFC Raleigh.
As much respect as Sandhagen (12-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has for Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC), it doesn’t change his fight night expectations. In a sense, Sandhagen sees the pairing as an unfortunate matchup for a man he calls a “legend.”
“It’s a bummer almost for me because I really like Frankie,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I’ve always been a really big fan of Frankie and I don’t want to be the one who puts the stamp on his career. But that’s kind of what my job is. That’s what I’m going to do. Not to sound arrogant. But he has to fight me on his first fight coming down to 135? That kind of sucks for him.”
Edgar’s drop to bantamweight comes on the heels of his fifth straight title-fight defeat. At UFC 240 in July, Edgar suffered a five-round, unanimous decision loss to UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway.
Despite Edgar’s attempt to reinvent himself in a new weight class, Sandhagen doesn’t think anything will change. Weight isn’t Edgar’s issue, but Father Time is, assessed Sandhagen.
“Not to sound punny, but I don’t think ‘the answer’ for him was to come down in weight… I think Frankie will feel a little bit better at 135 if he loses weight the correct way… (But) I also don’t think it’s going to be the easiest thing in the world for him.
“If he is going to do it right, he’s not going to have as much energy through training camp, which is going to be detrimental, too. Fighting me, I think that I’m kind of a nightmare of a fight for almost anyone in the division.”
Sandhagen said he watched Edgar’s fight against Holloway and was impressed by some of the tools the former UFC lightweight champion brought to the table. That said, Edgar’s body language at the end of the fight provided insight into the insurmountable challenges he faces, according to Sandhagen.
“I’m obviously catching him on the tail end of his career,” Sandhagen said. “That being said, I didn’t think he looked too bad against Max. I think the problem with Frankie — and I watched this in his post-fight interviews after Max — he looked really broken and confused as to why he wasn’t winning anymore. He was kind of looking for a solution.
“As much as I kind of hate to say it, I think that solution is you had your reign in the UFC. You did really good. You became a legend. You beat a lot of really tough guys and were the champ for a little bit. Like, that was your time. When I was watching him do that, as sad as it is, I wanted to be like, ‘It’s someone else’s time now.’ You don’t get to fight forever.”
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After listening to Edgar’s post-fight interview, Sandhagen believes Edgar should have retired. As tough as it is to walk away from the sport, Sandhagen would have liked to see Edgar make that decision.
“I know that we all love fighting,” Sandhagen said. “I dread the day that I’m going to have to make the decision to retire as well. It’s going to be a very hard one. That was kind of the feel I got when I was watching those post-fight interviews.
“That was a guy who needs to call it on the sport. He’s done everything he needs to do. So why need to do this? Him coming to 135 won’t do a ton for him. He’s still going to be facing guys who have a lot of high-level skills and newer skills who are doing things differently. Like myself. It’s just tough for him.”
