What was a long-speculated move has now come to fruition as former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is heading down to bantamweight.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto learned of the move through the manager of Frankie Edgar, Ali Abdelaziz, and his coach, Mark Henry.
Abdelaziz added that he hopes the bantamweight debut will take place in November at UFC 244. Henry stated that the decision was made to have Edgar fight fighters who are closer to his size, as he’s been undersized throughout his career at lightweight and featherweight. For his last fight against Max Holloway for the featherweight title at UFC 240, Edgar weighed 152 pounds several weeks from the fight according to Mark Henry.
Despite being undersized, Edgar won the UFC lightweight title in 2010 over the legendary BJ Penn. He went on to defend the title three times, once against Penn and twice against Gray Maynard before falling to Benson Henderson in 2012. After a second loss to Henderson, Edgar went down to the featherweight division and was immediately given a title shot against Jose Aldo, which he lost.
The New Jersey native went on to win seven of his next eight fights, with the only loss being a rematch with Aldo for the interim featherweight belt. In that span, “The Answer” defeated Jeremy Stephens, Chad Mendes, and Yair Rodriguez among other notable names.
Frankie Edgar was in prime position to fight for a title against Max Holloway but the pairing was cursed. The first time it was booked, Edgar pulled out. The second time, Holloway pulled out and was replaced by Brian Ortega in a non-title bout. Ortega won by first-round knockout and sent Edgar down the ladder. He bounced back with a win over Cub Swanson and the elusive fight with Holloway finally took place at UFC 240 just two weeks ago, which Holloway won.
Edgar is a sure-fire future UFC Hall of Famer and will look for more success in a third weight class. When his first 135-pound opponent is revealed, you’ll find out here on Cageside Press.
