Frankie Edgar admits the move down to Featherweight is inevitable
Posted on March 9, 2012, 10:33 AM by Anton Gurevich"I got nothin' against 145 (pounds). Will I make it there one day? Probably. You know? That's the truth. But, I just don't wanna go out on these terms. I felt like the fight was too close for me to just be like, 'Alright, I'm going down to 45,' you know?
You know, the reality is that when I first got into this, there was not 45, there was only 55. Actually, when I first started fighting, UFC didn't even have 55. So, when 55 came, that's where I fought. Then, I started doing well, and my record kinda speaks for itself. It is the plan, to eventually go down one day, just not now.
I had a meeting with Dana (White) again, yesterday in the city an that's when he told me I was getting the rematch. The process was that I expressed how I felt, that I felt I deserved the rematch. I wanted the rematch. I let Dana know and then I guess a lot of fans, a lot of supporters backed me up on Twitter, getting at Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta) and they made the right choice." - MMAMania.com
Former UFC Lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar, admitted his long-speculated move down to Featherweight is inevitable, but only on his own terms. It looks like Edgar is not interested to leave the UFC Lightweight division as a loser, despite the fact that the UFC President Dana White promised him an immediate shot at Jose Aldo's title.
The rematch between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson will take place later this year, with Edgar once again looking to prove he's good enough to compete against the toughest "big guys" the UFC's 155lbs has to offer. The second fight with Henderson will be Edgar's third consecutive rematch, after beating BJ Penn twice, and going to Draw and then TKO victory over Gray "The Bully" Maynard.
Frankie Edgar is 14-2 in his career, with 3 KO/TKO and 3 Submission victories.
Comments
love it! Go Frankie get it back!
I can't get over that rematch news... I wanted them to move on so bad !
Now what ? If the fight is close again and Ben loses, he will feel like it's only right for him to ask for a rematch.
Plus it's not fair for Pettis who's getting screwed once again...
Pettis is NOT getting screwed.... His fight with Joe was NOT for #1 contender.... Diaz win over the Cowboy was more of a #1 contender fight.
not all of his fights are that close.. and in the rematches he has look dominant. i would much rather watch the second BJ fight or the second and third Maynard fight then the first ones. they were way more exiting so I'm really looking forward to this rematch. should end up being better than the first and that was a great fight.
If Ben Henderson is really better than Frankie, which I believe he is, He 'll beat him again and more decisively.
Look at his legs ,come on ! There is no way Bendo will lose to frankie ! (this is a joke)
Cool Frankie,move down whenever you are ready,1st beat Bendo AGAIN!
he doesn't want to leave 55 as a loser, fair enough, but he's not gonna leave 55 while he holds the belt either, catch22 frankie. most people who move weight are coming off a loss.
Translation:
"I will take my immediate rematch and my shot at getting the LW title back now, and if I win, I will stay at 155 until I lose the belt again, then drop to 145. If I lose to Bendo again, then I will drop to 145 immediately and demand an immediate title shot at 145".
Gee, Frankie, got it all figured out, don't you?
How 'bout you drop to 145 now, saving us all from having the LW division in limbo AGAIN, get your ass kicked by Aldo, and then we can stop talking about you for more than 5 minutes at a time.
Frankie deserves a rematch. Dana could have said no to the rematch, obviously he felt Frankie deserved it.
Translation...I know going to 145 is the smart thing to do, but people are telling me to do it, so I won't. Can you tell this guy is from Jersey?
Anyone who thinks Edgar won the fight with Bendo must either be high, choose him in the Lowpick or are from the Cecil Peoples school of judging.
It was obvious that Ben had more significant strikes, but he also landed more total strikes than Edgar as well, except in the first round, when they were tied. Or did you forget that leg kicks count? Go check on Fightmetric if you don't believe me.
The only stat that Edgar came out ahead was takedowns, but of course he couldn't keep Ben down, let alone gain a dominant position.
Who cares what Frankie thinks he deserves? I like him as a fighter but if you use that as a yardstick, every fighter who loses a decision will want t rematch.
I think Frankie will lose the rematch for the same reason he lost the first fight. Bendo is good enough and fast enough to trade shots with Edgar on a 1-for-1 basis, and when he hits, it is more damage than Edgar is inflicting. He's not trying to play Edgar's game, he's predicting Edgar's game and beating it.
This is honestly kind of like chess. In chess, when you are at an advantage, an even trade is almost always in your favor, because you were ahead and your opponent is that much closer to having nothing. Edgar isn't as big a fighter and doesn't hit as hard as the rest of the division, so he always starts off behind. He needs to land unanswered combinations and more significant shots than his opponents in order to come out ahead. Some people thought Bendo was sloppy with the kicks and Frankie was dominant because the kicks were caught so often, but the fact is it was what Henderson wanted. Hendo was landing a hard kick to the body, and in return maybe taking a partially deflected hit to the face. He was forcing Edgar to trade to land shots, and that is always going to be in the stronger strikers favor.
I think that when it all comes down to it, unless Edgar significantly outstrikes most of his opponents at Lightweight, he ends up on the short end of the stick. He's been good enough to do it to pretty much everyone, even a great striker like BJ Penn, but I honestly don't think he's good enough to outstrike Bendo.
Meant Bendo in the second paragraph there obviously.
Frankie Edgar is quick, but had a hard time matching Henderson's pace. "Smooth" landed the more precise effective strikes, and while Hendersons leg kick took a while to register (Frankie caught a few of those), the only disadvantageous position Edgar had Henderson in all night was in the opening minute, where henderson threw caution to the wind and threw that mid air roundhouse before "The Answer" let his leg go.
It was a close fight to score, but with that in mind the same thing will probably happen again. Edgar is just too small to bang with the 155'ers these days, although you can never count out a guy who everytime he fights these days reminds me of Rocky Balboa.
Of course, there was alot of chatter in regards to another first fight Henderson had in 2009 against Donald Cerrone. People thought Cerrone scored points with his submissions, but we all know how the rematch ended.