Frankie Edgar is pretty p*ssed off right now.
The former lightweight champ fought himself into the number one contender spot in the featherweight division for a crack at Conor McGregor – a man he believes he can beat.
But now the American, who is on a five fight winning streak, has missed out on a shot again after it was confirmed The Notorious is moving up to fight lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos on March 5.
“I think I’m the worst match-up for McGregor,” Edgar told MMA Fighting. “I think he knows it, I think you know it, I think the UFC knows it.
“I just need that chance to get my hands on him. That’s what I want. Am I going to get it? I f**king doubt it.”
But Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh dealt with the Edgar issues head on in The 42 – but what he said will probably give ‘The Answer’ some heart.
‘The elephant in the room in this situation, of course, has been Frankie Edgar. If Conor’s next fight was announced as being against Frankie, there would be a lot of complaints about him cutting too much weight and being too big for the rest of the 145lbs guys. People would also claim that he was running from Rafael dos Anjos.
‘Instead, they’ll say he should be staying at featherweight and that he’s afraid of Frankie. But as I’ve said many times before, it’s great that questions are being asked because answering them is what sport is all about. The day there are no more questions being asked of you is the day you’re no longer relevant.
‘No matter who Conor’s next opponent was going to be, people would complain. There’s no getting away from that. There are boxes to be ticked and, by the time Conor retires, he’ll have addressed them all. But they can’t all be done at the drop of a hat. We can only take it one at a time. Rafael dos Anjos is next. After that, maybe Frankie Edgar will get his chance at UFC 200 on 9 July. We’ll see.
‘I know Frankie is eager to get his shot, and he will. It’s not unusual for a champion to wait until the summertime to defend their belt — there are plenty of recent examples — so perhaps that’s when Frankie’s time will come. Look at this as a warm-up fight, albeit a dangerous one against the lightweight champion. Conor could fight Frankie in the summer, but in the meantime he’s taking another fight.
‘On average, Jose Aldo defended the featherweight title once every seven months. It would be a seven-month gap between Conor’s fight with Frankie, but I don’t recall Jose having to deal with the same amount of accusations of holding the division up. This might not be the case for other fighters, but due to Conor’s level of activity, he can afford to hold two belts and defend them regularly.’
We’re not going to lie, it’s a fight a lot of people want to see – but the world wants the RDA fight even more. Keep your eyes on UFC 200.
