AND THE PLOT thickens. Prior to last night’s UFC Fight Night 57 headliner between Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson, the majority of pre-fight chatter centred on whether a victory for the latter would earn him the title shot he had craved for so long.
But, and not for the first time in the former’s career, all assumptions and expectations were duly shattered. Frankie Edgar’s incredible habit of shaping a narrative to his will, once more materialised. As he has done consistently throughout eight years in the UFC, the former lightweight champion dramatically humbled any fan, pundit or fighter who had the temerity to look past him.
Not that he was cast as the underdog going into last night’s five-round featherweight showdown. However, the comprehensive nature of his victory over Swanson was simply jaw-dropping, and may only have been foreseen by Edgar himself.
Aside from sustaining an early flurry of strikes in the opening stanza, Edgar was utterly dominant. He neutralised Swanson by taking him to the mat almost at will. From top position he bludgeoned his opponent with a barrage of elbows and punches. When the dam broke, with just four seconds remaining in the fight, Edgar sunk in a rear-naked choke, and secured the latest stoppage in UFC history.
The display earned him $50,000 performance of the night bonus but, more importantly, catapulted him into the centre of the featherweight title picture. Having lost two straight title fights against Benson Henderson, before making the drop to 145lbs, Edgar was given an immediate shot at Jose Aldo, but that, too, ended in failure.
Yet, last night’s win sees him go 3-1 as a featherweight, having bounced back with victories over Charles Oliveria and BJ Penn. Apart from changing his own career prospects for the better, Edgar has eliminated, temporarily at least, another contender from the proverbial list. Swanson was chasing his seventh-consecutive win, but with that streak now broken, he must now settle for a place considerably further down the trough.
Dana White was not present in Austin last night, so no formal announcement regarding the next No 1 contender was forthcoming. But these recent developments will have given him and matchmaker Joe Silva plenty of food for thought.
As it stands, there are only three viable contenders for the next shot at Jose Aldo; Edgar, Ricardo Lamas and Conor McGregor. Yet Lamas has essentially taken himself out of the picture, by stating that after such a recent, one-sided defeat to the champion, he is in need of at least one additional fight – making more than one not so subtle advance towards a certain Mr McGregor.
So, this is where it gets interesting. Lamas, like Edgar, has recently scratched another protagonist off list, by submitting Dennis Bermudez at UFC 180, just over a week ago. Bermudez, to that point, had been somewhat of a dark horse, but was looking for his eighth-straight win prior to running into Lamas. Chances are, he will be paired with Swanson, and the winner there will be straight back into the mix.
McGregor, as we all know, will face journeyman Denis Siver in Boston on 18 January at UFC FN 59. At this moment, the Dubliner may only profit form this bout monetarily, such is the regard Siver is currently held. When the UFC made this match, it was at a time when the rest of division’s elite had already been tied up in other fights. In retrospect, the move feels myopic.
According to McGregor’s naysayers, of which there are many, the prevailing thought is that, without beating a competent wrestler, he remains an unproven entity at this level. Well, it just so happens, both Lamas and Edgar are grapplers of some note. Pulling Siver from the Boston card, of which there is precedence, might be the best way of culling the herd.
Not only that, it makes good business sense. McGregor fighting either of said pair would conjure far more interest and ratings, an area where the UFC have struggled as of late. If his interviews are anything to go by, Lamas would grab this opportunity in a heartbeat, while Edgar’s feelings are unknown.
If things were to stay as they are, McGregor’s two biggest advantages are that he is only one of the trio not to have fought and lost to Aldo and, perhaps more notably, the fact he can guarantee a stadium sell-out in the Irish capital. That he probably has the most effective style to trouble the flat-footed Aldo, is unlikely to be in the brass’ thinking.
Before last night’s dramatics, Swanson and Edgar were ranked number two and three, respectively, though that hardly seems plausible now. Could the UFC really expect Edgar to prove himself again, before getting a re-match with Aldo? Watch this space.