It was somewhat overlooked under the pile of abuse Conor McGregor hurled on current UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos earlier this week during a UFC 197 press conference, but the Irishman trashed fellow two-division competitor Frankie Edgar as well.
It was during one of the questions about how long Edgar could expect to wait for the featherweight champion to come back and defend his belt, particularly in light of the fact the “Notorious” one has set his sights on even loftier goals than 155 pounds.
“Frankie has a little bit of desperation about him,” said McGregor, shrugging. “I don’t know. He went 0-2 at lightweight, got the chance to fight for the featherweight title and got the head slapped off him. Then he was running around, begging. It has a stink of desperation off of it.
“I’m just going to let him sit for a while,” McGregor later added.
Ouch.
In fairness to Edgar, the former champion did better than 0-2 at lightweight. Arguably a natural 135-pounder, Edgar was a career 15-1-1 and the lightweight champion until he ran into back-to-back losses against Benson Henderson at UFC 144 and UFC 150.
While the first fight was closely contested, all MMA media widely agreed Edgar had more than “Answered” all doubts in the rematch. The judges simply botched the call, as they are wont to do.
It’s true Edgar dropped a decision to Aldo as well, however the New Jersey native has since won five in a row with three finishes over many top featherweights.
And although McGregor is all the rage right now, Edgar insists it’s actually he who can envision winning the lightweight and the featherweight belt to become the first simultaneous two-division champion.
What do you think? Was McGregor just engaging in more of his “Notorious” trash talk? Or is Edgar coming off a little desperate at he claims?