EVEN THE MOST fervent Conor McGregor fan would find it difficult not to have sympathy for Frankie Edgar.
Consecutive wins over Charles Oliveira, BJ Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber and Chad Mendes, yet there’s still no guarantee that his next bout will be for the UFC featherweight title, which is currently in the possession of Conor McGregor.
Following his first-round KO of Mendes last month in Las Vegas — just 24 hours before McGregor did the same to Jose Aldo — there can be little arguing with Edgar’s claim to be the number one contender in the 145lbs division, although the UFC have yet to rule out the possibility of a rematch for Aldo against the new champion.
Nevertheless, even if Edgar is confirmed to be the next man in line for a shot at McGregor’s featherweight title, he may meed to be patient. While the Irish fighter isn’t keen on relinquishing his crown, he now has his sights set on another — that of UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
It’s understood that an announcement regarding Conor McGregor’s next outing is due shortly — potentially this week — while dos Anjos has been referring to “big news coming soon” via his social media channels in recent days.
If a lightweight title bout between McGregor and dos Anjos is confirmed, Edgar — a former lightweight champion himself — will either be forced to wait on the sidelines until McGregor returns to featherweight or take another fight in the meantime.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Edgar reiterated that he was promised a featherweight title shot after his win over Mendes on 11 December. However, the 34-year-old New Jersey native believes the goalposts have since been moved.
“I thought they [the UFC] wanted me to go in the cage,” Edgar said, referring to the aftermath of McGregor’s defeat of Aldo. “And then as I’m about to walk in, Dana [White, UFC president] was walking out, he said, ‘you’re not going in there, Conor’s going up, blah blah blah, we might give Aldo a rematch, we don’t know’.”
Edgar, who has a 20-4-1 record and has never been stopped, lost the UFC lightweight title to Benson Henderson in February 2012 and came up short again in a rematch six months later. He then moved down to featherweight and received an immediate shot at then-champion Jose Aldo, but lost via unanimous decision. Five wins later, he’s desperate for another shot at championship gold.
“For sure, I’m pissed,” Edgar said. “I’ve been at it for a while now. I’ve been knocking on the door for this title shot for a while. It started with Cub [Swanson]. If Cub beat me he was promised a title shot. I beat him, I finished him in pretty dominating fashion and no, I’m not even considered for that title shot.
“I take it in my stride. I do everything in my stride, I really do think I’m a company man, but it’s not really panning out for me being that way.”
When asked if he was beginning to lose patience, Edgar said: “I’m there. I’m there already. I’m not one to sit there and cry about it. People my whole career say, ‘you’re too quiet, you need to say stuff,’ and the minute you say something it’s, ‘you’re fucking crying’.
“I mean, come on! You just can’t win with these people. And you really can’t pay attention to them. The people I need to talk to are Dana and Lorenzo [Fertitta, UFC CEO], and they seem like they’re not listening either.”
Edgar added: “What am I going to do, scream and shout? What can I do? Dana and Lorenzo, they know what I want. People are like, ‘you need to call them’. They fucking know what I want. What, am I going to bother them? For what? For them to say no? So they can promise me something one day and say no the next? Come on.”
Edgar admitted that he’s now resigned to the fact that he’s unlikely to be Conor McGregor’s next opponent: “Realistically, I’m setting myself up for that already. I’m setting myself up for hope for the best, expect the worst. I’m expecting the worst.”
