Everyone from MMA Fans, all the way to UFC Pres Dana White have been telling Frankie to drop down for sometime now. Apparently the UFC even denied Edgar’s bid for TUF 5 back in 2007 because of his size, or more to the point, his lack thereof.
Even featherweight champ Jose Aldo is sick of the reoccurring theme. “He said he wants to drop to featherweight so I’m hoping he does that to end this story,” Aldo said in an interview with Tatame.com. “He’s welcome here so that we can shut him off and he goes to the lightweight or bantamweight classes.”
Even though people feel Edgar’s natural weight is at 145, truth is he will still find himself undersized comparatively to some of the elite in the weight class. “For real I don’t think I will be the bigger guy,” he said in an interview with Mike Straka.
“I think these guys at ‘45 cut more weight than I will. I may not be dwarfed in size like some of the guys I’ve fought at lightweight but these ‘45 pounders present different challenges.”
Watch the FuelTV special below as the best MMA analysts in the bizz break down Frankie’s chances among the featherweights.
VIDEO COURTESY OF FUELTV ON FOX AND THE UFC..
Edgar has been upsetting Vegas odds for a long time now, dating back to his UFC debut against Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 where he won a unanimous decision victory and the fight of the night bonus.
Walking through the elite of the division, dropping a decision to Gray Maynard which he would eventually avenge, Edgar dethroned the heavily favorite champ in BJ Penn.
Yet here he is with two back to back losses in the UFC. Of course those losses were in highly contested title bouts against Benson Henderson, but he will have to climb the mountain to get back to the top. Dana stated after their second bout that upon Frankie’s decision to drop to featherweight, he most likely would have to fight at least once before earning a shot at Jose Aldo.
Recently, Chad Mendes called out Edgar on Twitter and according to Edgar, he would welcome the challenge. Both men are at the top of the featherweight division and looking for a shot at the champ. A match between these two would be a fine title eliminator for number one contendership in the barren featherweight division.
Yet even if Jose defeats Koch at UFC 153 and Edgar wins his featherweight debut, I’m not confident of his chances against Jose, although who is? Aldo is a beast and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, if not of all time.
To be specific, here’s why I don’t like Edgar’s chances: I think Jose sees something he’s seen in a lot of his opponents with quick hands and good wrestling, and that is a lack of leg kicking defense.
Edgar moves quickly with his boxing, bobbing and weaving with the best of them. But what he makes up for in speed and head movement, he will be lacking in protecting his lower body from Aldo’s signature leg kicks in my opinion.
Edgar will be a welcoming site in the lower weight classes, even if he can’t beat Jose Aldo. At least we will recognize the name on the card opposite of the featherweight champion’s. Sorry Koch.