Dana White Confirms Frankie Edgar Is Next In Line: ‘Nobody Can Deny Him’
Countless MMA fans and media may have been a bit surprised when Frankie Edgar knocked out Chad Mendes in the first round of their main event of tonight’s (Fri., December 11, 2015) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 22 from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada
And with Edgar seemingly nipping at his heels for a long overdue title shot after five straight wins, you can count UFC President Dana White among them. White met up with FOX Sports’ Ariel Helwani directly after the card to get his take on the main event and Edgar’s position:
The UFC exec admitted that it obviously didn’t play out how he thought it would:
“I don’t think anybody expected it. I saw that fight going, Chad Mendes chasing him down, trying to land the big bombs early, Frankie trying to wear him out because Chad has a tendency togas and try to take him out in the late rounds. But Frankie went in there, mixed it up with him and catches him with a punch.”
With his surprise at Edgar’s shocking and dominant win established, White proclaimed that no one could deny ‘The Answer’ another shot at 145-pound gold:
“When he came downstairs, I said, ‘Nobody can deny you now. Not me; not nobody.”
But White’s supposed ducking of Edgar has become well-documented, as The New Jersey native said White had even ducked out of his win to avoid talking to him about his shot. But White clarified that there was no beef, and that he’d helped Edgar out before by giving him the title rematches he asked for. Overall there are no problems between he and Edgar, and White admitted that he had supplanted himself as the clear top contender:
“There’s no beef. Everybody believes they’re ready for the title shot and they deserve it, and Frankie’s one of those guys. I respect Frankie. Nobody has done more stuff for you than me Frankie, and you know this. Gave him rematches when he came and asked. Frankie really, really solidified himself tonight as the guy.”
But while that may be the obvious choice on paper, Helwani did note that illustrious champion Jose Aldo would most likely deserve an immediate rematch if he lost to Conor McGregor in the main event of tomorrow’s UFC 194. White acknowledged that that could indeed happen in true ‘we’ll see what happens’ fashion:
“We gotta see how the fight goes, but yeah, there’s no doubt about it. We’ll see how it goes.”
Indeed we will, and it’s hard to deny that Aldo would deserve another shot at McGregor after being the only featherweight champ the UFC has ever known. Unfortunately that could lead to more waiting for Edgar, something that he’s grown all too accustomed to lately.
This time, he’s simply run out of top contenders to beat, however.
