Frankie Edgar will hang up the gloves following UFC 281 this Saturday.
It’s been a long road for “The Answer,” who debuted in 2005 in New York, and will wrap it up in the very same city, albeit it inside a much larger, more storied venue: Madison Square Garden.
“Seventeen years ago, driving up here and fighting some guy with a no rules fight, head butt the guy, then get to finish it at the most famous arena in the world, it’s definitely full circle,” Edgar said this week.
Edgar (24-10-1) made all of $160 for his first fight. “I got ten dollars for every person that bought a ticket, so I had 16 people in the crowd,” Edgar revealed. Far more will be cheering for Frankie Edgar at UFC 281, as he wraps up a Hall of Fame worthy career that saw him capture the UFC’s lightweight championship, and twice challenge for featherweight gold. He touched on that as well, but to Edgar, having those same supporters back in the crowd Saturday stands out.
“I’m sure I’m having a bunch [of supporters come out]. The people, a lot of people that were in the crowd in that Bronx fight, will also been in the crowd here. That’s what means more.”
Edgar has been paired up with Chris Gutierrez for his final walk to the octagon, but to hear him tell it, the opponent doesn’t matter. “It didn’t matter to me. I remember when they were trying to find out opponents, I told [my management] ‘I don’t care who it is. Just tell me who I’m fighting.’ And that was it. The opponent’s a byproduct of this for me at this point.”
The former lightweight champion, now fighting at bantamweight, insisted during this week’s media day that Saturday would mark his final fight in MMA. He did leave the door open for a high profile boxing match-up, however.
“It’s my last UFC fight, MMA fight for sure. Most likely, 100% it’s my last fight, but if there’s some boxing, maybe [Manny] Pacquaio wants to do an exhibition, I know he’s doing exhibitions now, I could be open to something crazy like that. But it would have to be a really, really good one.”
Frankie Edgar faces Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 this Saturday, November 12, 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
