Frankie Edgar has earned the right to decide what weight he wants to fight at
Posted on February 26, 2012, 10:07 PM by Trent Reinsmith
Following his loss to Benson Henderson at UFC 144 it seems like Frankie Edgar is feeling some pressure to drop down to the 145 pound division to face Featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Some of that pressure is being exerted from fans, but some of it is coming from a man that has a good amount of say in Edgar’s career, UFC President Dana White. Following Edgar’s loss, White spoke to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani and said, “I would love to see Frankie move down to 145, I’ve been saying that forever, he seems reluctant to do it, but, we’ll see what happens.” When pressed as to why he thought Edgar was reluctant to drop, White continued, “Because he’s been one of the best forever at 155. It’s tough to tell a guy that’s been dominating at a weight division, ‘you should move down.’”
White is correct, Edgar has been dominating at 155 for a long while, running up a record of 14-2-1 while fighting at a weight that is very close to his walking around weight. With just two career losses it’s hard to see the pressure as warranted. It’s not like Henderson, a much bigger fighter, walked through Edgar at UFC 144, but yet here we are, hearing that the man that was champion from April 2010 through February 2012 should drop a weight class.
Perhaps the reasoning is that there is no one at 145 that can challenge current champion Jose Aldo. If that’s the case and Edgar drops and beats Aldo, who would be there to challenge Edgar after he became champion? On the other hand if Edgar loses, where does that leave him? Would he go back up to 155 and fight his way back through the ranks or would he stay at 145 and work his way back to a title shot there? It’s almost as if Edgar is in a no win situation.
If he stays at 155 does he get an immediate rematch like he gave BJ Penn and Gray Maynard or does he face the prospect of fighting his way back to the top ranked contender spot? If he will receive an immediate rematch he should stay at 155. If he losses that rematch then he should think about dropping. Even with another loss it’s not like it would be a slam-dunk for him to make that decision.
Edgar has been reluctant to think about dropping weight in the past and he’ll probably remain reluctant after losing to Henderson, after all Henderson took “his” title and that’s going to be something that Edgar is going to focus on, much in the same way that Quinton Jackson still refers to the light heavyweight crown as “his.”
It’s hard to say what Edgar will do, but one thing is certain, he should be allowed to make that decision on his own, based on what he wants to do. He’s earned that right.
Further Reading: UFC 144 Recap: Benson Henderson leaves Japan as the new UFC Lightweight Champion
Comments
Hopefully me article comes out tomorrow on the subject, but I very much want to see him drop.
Edgar is one of the best in the world at 155, and could have very well taken the decision last night. He could still hang with anybody in the world there.
However, if that's how good he is against guys 20 lbs heavier then him, the sky is the limit for people that weigh the same.
I'd love to see Frankie fight Jose, but I understand why he seems reluctant to go 145, at least at this point in his career. He's had a lot of success at 155, losing 2 decisions and never really seemed to be out muscled with the exception of the first Gray fight. If he goes and fights Aldo and loses, then what? He's be left in a pretty bad place, considering Aldo will eventually move up to 155 anyways, and there are ZERO big name fights for him at 145 besides Jose. Frankie has become a big star, and I don't see a lot of benefit from him going to 145 at this point in his career. He's not super young and he has had a history of back problems so who knows how long his career lasts. I think he should stay in the LW sharktank and keep competing against top LW's. If 145 becomes a more attractive option for him a few years down the road it's always an available option, but at this point he's better off where he is.
I don't know that Ben has his number...Frankie won round 1 and was probably winning round 2 until he got hit with that upkick from hell. Without that it could have been a different fight. It's not like it was a dominating performance.
Frankie had 5 takedowns in that fight, but it didn't matter because Hendo got up immediately every time - more because he was physically to big and strong for Frankie than because he used great technique - and I don't mean to knock Hendo's technique at all by saying that. Several times Frankie took Hendo's back but Hendo just stood up and shrugged him off.
That won't happen at 145, and that's where the advantage is. If anyone can beat Aldo at 145, its Edgar, which is why I would love to see that fight.
I rewatched the fight with my dad last night and Ben had both R1 and R2. Just go back and watch it again and you will see that only Ben was doing anything significant. Edgar was only able to take Ben down because Ben was haphazzard with his take down defense opting to throw good kicks in it's place. Ben caused damage everytime he was taken down and Frankie did not.
@falcon4917
That's your opinion...but the fact is that the judges all scored R1 for Frankie.
There was never a time during the whole fight that had me wondering who's winning. The whole fight I was thinking, what is Frankie going to do now?
Opinions are split everywhere online about what scores to give in certain rounds, but Frankie winning round 1 has a large majority. Landed more strikes, and got takedowns. It was Bens least effective round.
aldo vs edgar will look a lot like aldo vs faber.. they have similar styles and i don't see why he would want to move down for a title shot when he is still in a good position to get another shot at LW
I think Frankies face was the deciding factor in this fight. I thought it was real close otherwise and I think he could have gotten the nod. I think your wrong about Ben having his number. If theres anything I've ever seen Frankie do is improve on his performances. He did it with BJ twice and three times with Maynard. Frankie isnt my favorite 55er but he definitely belongs in that division and I think Frankie is still one of the toughest P4P fighters in the sport.
You have got fighters losing twenty pounds before fights...Frankie only has to go down ten pounds. As he slows as a fighter he will have no choice but to go down to at least be a bit better sized against his opponents.
Anyway its his choice.....His last three fights he has copped some punishment despite two wins out of three. You can't maintain constant damage otherwise you will end up looking like wanderlei silva.
I'd be seriously pissed if we saw yet another instant rematch for the belt at 155. BJ had been the LW champ for a long as time and was already a legend by the time he lost his belt (a fight I believed BJ won) so a rematch made sense (I do think Frankie won the second fight however). Maynard got his rematch based on the draw obviously and there really wasn't any other course of action. However Frankie is not quite up to legend status yet imo and I at least felt it was a clear victory for Ben and a rematch would end exactly the same.
Frankie caught almost every leg kick and did nothing with it.
Old school rules says whoever cops the most damage loses the fight.
Frankie's face was a mess...this wasn't a bruise, this was a completely broken nose and swollen shut eye..
Maybe frankie won on soft points, but look at your face dude....your punches had nothing on them to make the judges think otherwise
frankie will do better fighting at 135!! i think jose aldo will destroy him unless he isnt on shape like the hominick fight... aldo has great tdd and on his feet is way better and quicker than maynard and bendo.
on the other hand if edgar goes strong in 135 i think that he will beat cruz or faber
me thinks Edger vs Aldo would be a bigger challenge for frankie than any other fight he would have if he stayes at 155. i dont want an instant rematch i think Henderson vs Petis would have a little more drama.
I actually think that moving down to FW would be great for Frankie man but after giving both Bj and Maynard instant rematches after their losses i think they should let him do what he wants. If he wants to stay at LW and have another crack at Hendo they should let him, he's earned that right at the very least man. I think his abilities and strengths though would transfer really well down to FW. His fast hands and speedy combinations together with his excellent movement and great accuracy would give him a good chance at beating Aldo imo. Don't get me wrong, i don't mean for certain, i know just how dangerous Aldo is but i really and truly think Frankie would just be a bad match up for Aldo, with his quick hands and excellent lateral movement. Anyway, whatever he wants to do the UFC should honour it, he definately deserves it.......
Of course Edgar deserves to fight at what ever weight he wants. I think that is true if any fighter. If it's your ass on the line in the cage, no one's vote counts more than your own...
...even if it is a bad decision.
Edgar is a very good fighter, but there are several guys at 155 that he will have a hard time beating, including Bendo, Petis and probably Diaz.
And to be honest, I think Aldo could be in that category as well.
Everyone says "he gains a big advantage in stamina by not cutting" but that was clearly not the case against some one who knows how to do it right, such as Henderson.
Frankie at 135? Hew would be a beast. But I think they only thing that will get him to drop down from 155 will be a couple of loses.