Frankie Edgar seems to have “The Answer” for everything these days.
The UFC lightweight champion was invited by NFL head coach Rex Ryan to help motivate the 2-3 New York Jets on Sunday evening, UFC officials told MMAFighting.com.
When the season began, many had the Jets as not only favorites to win the AFC East division, but there was a general consensus that the team could be a Super Bowl contender.
After a 2-0 start, the contender talk crumbled in a matter of weeks with the Jets losing three straight to the Patriots, Ravens and Raiders.
Ryan, a big fan of MMA, decided to make a call and bring in a guy with a lot of knowledge about fighting with your back against the ropes.
Edgar rose to stardom in 2010 after taking back-to-back decision wins over MMA legend BJ Penn, but his true coming out party was in his UFC 125 bout with rival Gray Maynard.
After being dropped several times in the first round, Edgar made a Rocky-like comeback and battled his way back into the bout that ended in a draw. The rematch, which took place in October, was like watching a re-run of the UFC 125 bout.
Edgar was dropped several times in the first round, and he survived the initial onslaught and battled his way back into the fight. The only difference this time around was that judges didn’t have to render a decision.
Edgar dropped Maynard in the fourth round and followed up with a barrage of punches that forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the action.
After Edgar’s pep talk, the Jets went on to defeat the Miami Dolphins at home on Monday, 24-6.
This wasn’t the first time Ryan sought Edgar’s help to come in and say a few words to his team. In November 2010, Edgar’s pregame speech helped the Jets win a tough outing against the Houston Texans.
“The guy is barely taller than this podium, and this guy, he beats BJ Penn in a UFC Championship bout,” Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez said.
“Everybody counted him out. They wanted a rematch, and then he went back and beat him even worse. Talk about a guy who’s mentally tough, physically tough. He came in and spoke to the team last night. Perfect timing,” he said.
“Just talking about never giving up, being counted out, playing until the end, fighting and believing in yourself, believing in your team and the people around you.
“Those were the only people telling him he could win the fight. Everybody else counted him out…Perfect timing for Rex to bring somebody in like that and give us a little extra inspiration. So, it was great for Frankie to come in,” Sanchez said.
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