Frankie Edgar May Not Have Pivoted Right to UFC if RAF Was Around Then
Frankie Edgar secured a big victory under the Real American Freestyle banner that transpired on July 18th at RAF 11, getting the decision over Clay Guida. The wrestling clash between the pair of UFC Hall of Famers was a long time coming, and when reflecting upon the big takeaways from that RAF 11 win against ‘The Carpenter’, Edgar said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“It was great to get out there, be on the winning side. Clay is a legend in the game. Super nice guy. Obviously been friends with Clay for quite some time. It’s kind of crazy that we never crossed paths until now, but it was good to mix it up with him.”
‘The Answer’ has a broader journey that is rooted in this discipline, where his stepdad Frank influenced him to take to the mats. When touching on how there is now a professional circuit for this sport, which wasn’t available during his amateur wrestling come-up days, Frankie Edgar stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“No, absolutely. This is an awesome opportunity for young wrestlers and old wrestlers like myself [laughs]. So it’s cool to kind of put the wrestling on that main stage. It’s really, really picking up and getting really popular. I know the wrestling community has been waiting for something like this for a really long time.”
Edgar had 120 matches at Clarion and had multiple years of qualifying for nationals at a juncture where there wasn’t that pipeline to getting into doing this professionally thereafter. It was about becoming an MMA fighter or getting into coaching wrestling, predominantly. When delving into how Real American Freestyle is paving this newer kind of lane for wrestlers to continue within their given field, Frankie Edgar quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, absolutely. I had a couple offers to do some grad positions in college but I just kind of; wrestling at the moment left a bad taste in my mouth. Obviously didn’t accomplish my goals so I kind of was looking to pivot and obviously found MMA. But I wonder if RAF was around, I may have stuck around a little bit.”
Frankie Edgar on RAF: I could definitely make “a little run here”
Also, Edgar’s son wrestled at the 2026 US Open, and when it was mentioned how we could possibly get Santino Edgar there in RAF at some point in time, Frankie Edgar said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, hey we’ll see [laughs]. He’s on the right path.”
In terms of other familial pieces within the sport, Edgar’s cousin was a wrestler, too. When referencing his kids getting involved in wrestling and if that resonates as a cool generational, lineage element for him, Frankie Edgar stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“No, absolutely. Both my sons wrestle and my daughter, she wrestled last in a tournament last week actually. So she has some interest, kind of in and out a little bit. But seems like she’s diving back in right now. So, it’s cool to get the whole family involved.”
As a former UFC lightweight champion who has since hung up the gloves, the desire to compete does not waver, even when that decision is made. After a controversial BKFC signing ended up not coming to fruition, and touching on how much different the discourse was for the ex-UFC vet dropping the gloves as compared to the sentiment with him donning the singlet on the RAF mats, Edgar quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“It definitely scratches that itch. I definitely love competing and I love fighting. If I didn’t age, I’d do it forever. You know what I mean? But it’s definitely a young man’s sport and even wrestling is not an old; it’s not designed for us old guys. But it’s a little bit more forgiving for the brain and the body. I guess damage and whatnot. The wrestling is tough on the body. As long as I get the right opponents I think I could make definitely a little run here.”
