Issue 120

October 2014

In his 10th year as a professional fighter, Frankie Edgar is proving to the world he's got what it takes to be champion once again. But at what weight division? Only time will tell.

BJ Penn wasn't the only headline fighter at July's TUF Season 19 Finale to reach a crossroads in his professional career. Opponent Frankie Edgar, the man who retired the Hawaiian with his third successive victory over 'The Prodigy', reached a juncture in his own fighting legacy.

The two-time UFC world title challenger and former lightweight champion turns 33 in October, and this summer he entered the 10th year of a storied and illustrious career of caged combat. 

Defeat to Penn, even in a rubber match after winning the first two, could have set Edgar's career back as much as two years. As it turned out, it positively demonstrated he is as creditable as ever.

In victory Frankie not only kept alive his hopes of a fresh title opportunity but he cemented his position as the only genuine triple threat contender in the UFC. He is unique in that he's the only athlete across the entire 500-plus fighter roster who is both legit and capable of competing for gold in any of three weight divisions: lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight.

And, perhaps most importantly of all, Edgar himself feels like he's just hitting his peak as a professional fighter. “I'm getting older but as you get older you get wiser,” Edgar tells FO when asked to reflect on his stellar career. 

“The older I get the more confident I get in myself. I'm preparing better and peaking better, and I'm right here and right where I want to be. I'm in a great position to make another run and pick up another world title. It's all about becoming world champion.”

Close back-to-back points defeats to Benson Henderson in 2012 cost Edgar his lightweight belt, but it was perhaps the loss to José Aldo early in 2013 which cut deepest into the 17-4-1 career tally of the Toms River resident.

However, the last 18 months have been good for Edgar. As well as adding a daughter to his growing brood, inside the Octagon victory over Charles Oliviera preceded his Ultimate Fighter coaching role opposite BJ, and now he's likely just one win away from a second featherweight title chance early in the New Year.

And yet he may not stop there. After all, at just five-foot-six, Edgar has the option of dropping down to bantamweight in the future also.

“Am I a career featherweight now?” he retorts. “Honestly, I don't know. It's good for me as I can go a couple of different ways. But right now it's the 145lb title, that's all I'm working towards. That's my main focus. And in the future, who knows, we'll see what happens.”

Indeed Frankie was considering a further cut when The Ultimate Fighter coaching role was first being talked about. When negotiations began for Edgar to feature on the 19th season of the show, former WEC champ and fan favorite Urijah Faber was the original opposing coach involved in the conversation.

Edgar reveals: “They were initially talking about Urijah (Faber) coming in and the coaches fight being between 135lb and 145lb, but then Dana (White, UFC president) doesn't like catch weights. And then it went quiet and I didn't know whether it was even going to happen at all. Then BJ came in and that was that.”

Asked about the prospect of cutting weight even further for a potential Faber fight, he continues: “I was right on the fence about cutting again to be honest. There were pluses and minuses in dropping down again. 

“Fighting a big name like Urijah, that would have been a fun fight for sure. He's one of the best lighter weight guys in the history of the sport. But I've got a job to do at 145lb. I made my name at 155lb, so let's see what I can really do in this weight class before I think about moving again. I don't even know how my body would react if I wanted to move to 135lb either, so that's not happening just yet.”

So, the bantamweight class can breathe easy again. The featherweight division, however, is back on notice. While last opponent Penn has become a victim of Father Time, Edgar insists he's embracing the years and learning to adapt 

“I train a bit smarter, that's one thing I've learned from having just one fight in the last year. I wasn't grinding every day and I was adding more to my strength and conditioning too, pushing things in the weights room and really rebuilding physically I guess. But I just trained smart and tried to make the most of it.

“I really don't stop training. I'm always in the gym, helping my teammates and helping myself get better. Maybe not so intense and strict, but I'm never really out of the gym. Then when a fight is, like, 12 weeks out, that's when I go full-steam ahead.”

That relentless fighting and, evidently, training style Edgar possesses is also what he insists is necessary to stay relevant inside the Octagon. As the popularity of the sport continues to rise, the money available to fighters increases as does the lure of caged combat. All three of the weight divisions Edgar can call is own are stacked. So to stay in the mix Edgar works harder than ever.

“I think the standard of competition in the UFC today is great. The sport is going in the right direction and it's testament to the UFC's recruitment that there really is no easy fight in the Octagon any more. Every fight is against a tough and well-rounded dude. They're all good fights. 

“And that's one of the reasons I stay in the gym so much. If you blink in this sport you can get left behind real quick. So I train with a lot of these young guys who are coming through now and they keep me on my toes and help me feel young myself.”

He adds: “I'm still young at heart and that's why I keep having kids, to keep me young at heart.”

RESTORE THE SHORE

A proud Jersey boy, Frankie Edgar grew up within walking distance of Seaside Heights, one of the communities worst affected when Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012. 18 months on from the superstorm that cost the US over $65 billion, Edgar is still working with his community to rebuild the area.

Like UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Edgar's family and friends were hit hard and are still picking up the pieces of their homes and businesses. He believes that's as much down to the problems residents have had getting funds and insurance claims cleared by authorities as the damage caused by Sandy.

“'Restore the Shore' was a pretty big thing right after the storm, but there's still a lot of stuff going on with it and people are still rebuilding their lives. I volunteer with them a lot, but there is still so much work to be done,” says Frankie, who posted a video on YouTube to generate awareness of the campaign.

“I wouldn't say everyone is homeless, but a lot of people are out of money. There are a lot of businesses still struggling to get up and running again, especially where I am, and there have been storms and incidents, like fires, since Sandy too, which haven't helped.”

The TUF coach reveals his mother-in-law lost her home to the storm, and is only just getting back on her feet. But he says the community has been galvanized through adversity and he's proud of what they've managed to achieve – despite politics getting in the way of real progress.

“My mother-in-law's house got condemned. They had a marina home and it had to be knocked down and rebuilt.

“As with a lot of these things, the major issue for Jersey involves politics. The money is there, but it's impossible to get at. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to rebuild. Only the insurance companies have benefited from the storm.

“The rebuilding process is taking way longer than anybody thought it would. The whole area has really come together, but there is still so much to be done.”