LAS VEGAS — Frankie Edgar isn’t afraid to admit that even a fighter as confident and skilled as a former UFC lightweight champion worries about adding to a losing streak.
Edgar meets Charles Oliveira in a featherweight main-card bout at UFC 162 Saturday night. Edgar (15-4-1) has lost his past three fights, all decisions, twice to Benson Henderson and once to Jose Aldo Jr.
And Edgar knows that even though many people think he may believe he should have been named the winner in any of his tight decision losses, another defeat would put him in a bad spot.
“You know, I don’t care who you are, that’s gotta go through your head,” Edgar told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 162 open workouts at the XS nightclub at Encore. “I try to just envision me winning. “Those thoughts in your head, I keep telling myself there hasn’t been a fight I haven’t shown up for yet. This Saturday night I’m going to show up, I prepared the right way, I did everything I had to do to make sure I’m going to win.”
The bout with Oliveira marks the first scheduled three-round fight Edgar has competed in since 2009. Starting with his victory over B.J. Penn to win the lightweight title in 2010, Edgar went to the championship rounds in seven straight fights.
Given that the judges haven’t exactly seen things his way in recent fights, Edgar says he wants to go out and make a statement against the 23-year-old Brazilian.
“I wanna go out there and make no bones about it that I was the winner,” Edgar said. “I don’t want it to go to the judges. As for wars, I tend to be in them. But I definitely want to stay forward.”
Edgar’s ultimate goal, of course, is to get back to another tile shot. With UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the house at XS, Edgar, who held the lightweight title nearly two years, marveled at what Silva has been able to achieve during his run.
“It’s amazing,” Edgar says. “It really is. He’s been doing it for seven years. To do what he does, the way he’s done it, you don’t hear that too often in fight sports. … There’s so many different ways to lose. Injuries, getting bored as the champion, just the fact you can get hit with a big punch, hit with a submission, you can have a bad weight cut, you can get sick, it’s an amazing thing. So to stay perfect like that, this is incredible.”
The championship vibe is a feeling Edgar hopes to have once again.
“UFC, it’s funny how they do things,” Edgar said. “If they offer a title shot, I’m going to take it. Am I going to lobby for it? Probably.”