It has taken more than 13 years, but Frankie Edgar has definitely lost his battle with the people who want him to cut weight.
My opinion: No one has fought the good fight against weight loss as much (or exactly) as Edgar fought. In a sport in which the majority of athletes cut at least 8% of their body weight directly for competition, Edgar has had a Hall of Fame-worthy career without ever doing it.
Even when Edgar was a champion at 155 pounds, UFC president Dana White could not help but talk about what “a beast” Edgar would be at 145. And when he went down after losing the title to Benson Henderson and failed to get the belt in a rematch – in a few controversial decisions – Edgar’s own coach still said he would look great at 135.
Well, the time has come to finally see it. Edgar, 38, will make his bantamweight debut in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas, against top-10 opponent Pedro Munhoz. And if Edgar stays in this weight class, it will be the first time he has consistently fought opponents his size.
The question of “How will Edgar look after bantam weight?” however, is not the only uncertainty going on this weekend. Unfortunately for him, it has become attached to “How much does Edgar have left?” Everyone I talk to about this fight – other fighters, coaches, etc. – said they were envious of seeing Edgar’s style sail to a lower weight, but also added something to the effect of “He looked vulnerable in his last few fights.”
Edgar suffered no single knockout loss in his first 28 pro fights. Now it has happened twice in its past four, both times in the first round. Few fighters are as loved by their peers as Edgar, so it all comes out of respect, but questions about his endurance are widespread to go into this fight.
And in a way, maybe that’s poetic. Edgar is regularly regarded, or at least seen as vulnerable, because of his greatness throughout his career. Now we can not say that he is fighting out of his weight class, that we are saying that he waited too long to go down.
People have been waiting a long time for 135 pounds on Edgar. And now that he’s here, it almost feels like we do not expect much to come out. For a man who won the lightweight championship against BJ Penn as a 5-to-1 underdog, maybe that’s how he likes it.
By the figures
11: UFC fighters who have won in three weight classes in the modern era. Edgar, a former lightweight champion who has competed in featherweight in recent years and is now making his debut at bantamweight, is looking to become 12th. The others: Ildemar Alcantara, Jared Cannonier, Kenny Florian, Manvel Gamburyan, Erik Koch, Lucas Martins, Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, George Roop, Diego Sanchez and Paul Taylor.
441: Days since Munhoz’s last fight, a decision loss for Aljamain Sterling. It is the longest dismissal in the UFC career of Munhoz, who previously sat 399 and 243 days between bouts.
7:15:51: Total UFC fight time for Edgar, in hours, minutes and seconds. It’s the most in UFC history, far ahead of runner-up Rafael Dos Anjos’ 6:43:11. In his 26 appearances for the promotion, Edgar has fought a record 89 rounds.
13: Finished by Munhoz among his 18 career wins (eight innings, five knockouts). His six bantamweight finishes are the fourth most in the division’s history.
9: UFC Championship fights for Edgar, including one for an interim belt.
Sources: ESPN Stats & Information and UFC Stats
A look back
Five against five
The latest results from Pedro Munhoz
Loss: Aljamain Sterling (UD, June 8, 2019; watch on ESPN +)
Win: Cody Garbrandt (KO1, March 2, 2019; watch on ESPN +)
Win: Bryan Caraway (TKO1, 30 Nov 2018)
Win: Brett Johns (UD, 4 Aug 2018)
Loss: John Dodson (SD, March 3, 2018)
The latest results from Frankie Edgar
Loss: Chan Sung Jung (TKO1, Dec 21, 2019; watch on ESPN +)
Loss: Max Holloway (UD, July 27, 2019; watch on ESPN +)
Win: Cub Swanson (UD, April 21, 2018)
Loss: Brian Ortega (KO1, March 3, 2018)
Win: Yair Rodriguez (TKO2, May 13, 2017)
COVID-19 almost managed to score another goal for Pedro Munhoz, coming from the right, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors’ keeper
Last month, Pedro Munhoz thought he had lost one of the biggest chances of his career. On July 6, just hours before he was scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for UFC 251, Munhoz was told he had tested positive for COVID-19. His bolt with legend Frankie Edgar was knocked out.
“It was something like a shock,” Munhoz told ESPN. “But at the same time it is not. Because literally everyone is free and open to get that s —. The thing I worried about [about] was not against Frankie. That was a fight I was looking forward to – sharing the octagon with him. “
Fortunately for Munhoz, the fight was rescheduled for this weekend.
Conan Silveira, Munhoz’s coach at American Top Team, said Edgar is the “biggest fight” for Munhoz at the moment. Edgar is a former UFC lightweight champion and long time featherweight making his debut at bantamweight. Munhoz is ranked No. 7 by ESPN in that division, and a win over a big name like Edgar would get Munhoz back on track after a loss in his last fight to Aljamain Sterling a year ago.
Munhoz has praised Edgar as a legend, one he has seen compete since even before Edgar won the 2011 UFC lightweight title. But Munhoz’s coach does not believe that deep respect will get in the way of his fighter performing at his best.
“He’s a lovely boy,” Silveira said. “He’s funny. But when it comes to cage time …”
Munhoz has had two cruel knockout finishes in his past three wins. His one-man focus is now on a move toward title conflict.
–Marc Raimondi
And the winner is …
The biggest curiosity I have about Edgar at 135 is how effective his wrestling will be. There were times at 145, and especially at 155, when I thought his wrestling might have made a difference in a fight, but the size of his opponent was just too big. Edgar’s great shortage had an impact. In those tight moments where Edgar really needs a takedown, will it be any different at this weight? I’ll take a leap of faith and say yes, and predict that Edgar has even more than what we’re giving him at the moment. Edgar via decision.
Saturday’s fight schedule
ESPN / ESPN +, 8:30 pm ET
Pedro Munhoz vs. Frankie Edgar | Bantam weight for men
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Alonzo Menifield | Light heavyweight
Marcin Prachnio vs. Mike Rodriguez | Light heavyweight
Mariya Agapova vs. Shana Dobson | Flyweight for women
Daniel Rodriguez vs. Takashi Sato | World weight
ESPN / ESPN +, 6 pm ET
Amanda Lemos vs. Mizuki Inoue | Strawweight
Austin Hubbard Vs. Joe Solecki | Lightweight
Dwight Grant Vs. Calen Born | World weight
Jke Gonzalez vs. Ike Villanueva | Light heavyweight
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Carlton Minus | World weight
Timur Valiev vs. Mark Striegl | Bantam weight for men
Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access.
Something else to look for … outside of the main event
Ovince Saint Preux sets out to add to light heavyweight longevity
Ovince Saint Preux joins light heavyweight history.
His co-main event against Alonzo Menifield will be OSP’s 22nd UFC fight and 21st at light heavyweight. The last of those numbers will be the second most in division history behind only 22 of Jon Jones. And with Jones releasing his championship this week and saying that if he can come to terms with the UFC, he will move to heavyweight, which should leave the 205-pound gap in the Saint Preux range.
Saint Preux also has 10 finishes at 205 pounds, second only to Glover Teixeira, who is 11. 11. Menifield is not ready in his 10 pro fights.
Four more things to know (from ESPN Stats & Information)
1 Mariya Agapova made a strong impression in her UFC debut in June, submitting Hannah Cifers in less than three minutes. That made her the first fighter to represent Kazakhstan to win in the UFC. Agapova enters her weightlifting championship with Shana Dobson on a winning streak with three fights, all by stopping.
2 Daniel Rodriguez, who sees Takashi Sato against welterweight, seeks to extend his winning streaks to three fights in the UFC and eight overall. Rodriguez has been unbeatable since February 2018.
3 Japanese striker Mizuki Inoue makes her second UFC appearance, against Amanda Lemos of 7-1-1. Since the loss to Virna Jandiroba in March 2018, Mizuki has won back-to-back fights by decision.
4. Dana White’s Contender Series contract winner Joe Solecki makes his second UFC appearance, taking on lightweight Austin Hubbard, who comes off a win over Max Rohskopf. Solecki has won four consecutive fights and last year was part of the first copy of White who issued contracts to any winner on that week’s show, which the UFC president repeated last week.
Jeff Wagenheim has contributed to this preview fight card.
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