UFC featherweight contender Frankie Edgar produced one of the best reactions to Nate Diaz’s upset win over Conor McGregor at UFC 196.
The Answer was caught on video in the crowd, almost casually shrugging his shoulders the moment Diaz forced the Notorious to tap out with a rear-naked choke.
MMA Junkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu shared the footage:
Per the UFC’s official website, Edgar currently sits third in the featherweight rankings and could be in line for a massive title opportunity if McGregor decides to put an end to his failed experiment of fighting above his weight class.
The 34-year-old beat Chad Mendes in his last outing and is the division’s second-ranked challenger after Jose Aldo.
Edgar has won his last five fights since dropping a unanimous decision against Aldo early in 2013, per ESPN.com. With wins over the likes of Mendes, BJ Penn and Urijah Faber in that span, his resume certainly looks worthy of a title bout.
Per Damon Martin of Fox Sports, McGregor acknowledged his loss would likely be celebrated in the featherweight division, and he opened the door for a possible title defence, which would come against either Aldo or Edgar:
I know there’s a lot of people celebrating this in the featherweight division. There are many people celebrating another man’s victory. It’s something that I cannot understand how somebody not above can celebrate another man’s victory. At the end of the day, I am the featherweight world champion. I feel it is right to go back down and remind them of what I achieved and what I did to that division.
[…] I think next probably go back down and defend my featherweight crown.
Aldo probably presents the UFC with the best storyline and the biggest potential revenue. The Brazilian held the featherweight crown for years and hadn’t suffered a loss until his first meeting with McGregor in December, per ESPN.com.
He ran into a monstrous left hand and was knocked out after just 13 seconds, ending his reign and sending McGregor’s career to new heights.
Aldo immediately called out McGregor after his loss against Diaz via Twitter (warning: strong language), something the Notorious didn’t take kindly to, via Fox Sports: UFC:
That’s even more good news for Edgar, who would be the next in line in case McGregor refuses to give Aldo a rematch. Several fans and pundits would love to see the Irishman take on Edgar instead, including podcaster Brendan Schaub:
Like McGregor, Edgar has flashed shown one-punch power, most notably in his win over Mendes. The Answer has an intelligent ground game, but he’s far better on his feet and would make for a fantastic opponent for McGregor from a stylistic point of view.
Selling an Aldo rematch might be the easiest route to take for the UFC, but it shouldn’t be too hard to get fans excited for an all-out war between McGregor and Edgar.
Edgar has been waiting for a shot at the featherweight title ever since his loss against Aldo four years ago, and now would be the perfect time to hand the former lightweight champion another chance.
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