Frankie Edgar has been in four UFC lightweight title bouts, and fans have doubted his ability to win each and every one of them.
Whether it was because his stand up wasn’t good enough to hang with BJ Penn’s, or his wrestling was inferior to Gray Maynard’s—there has always been some reason for fans to count out “The Answer.” And going into this Saturday’s main event-title fight against Benson Henderson, he is being overlooked once again.
This time fans are pointing to Henderson’s pure size and athleticism, saying Edgar will be physically unable to hang with the former WEC champion—and it’s up to Edgar to prove them wrong for what feels like the thousandth time.
Henderson is bigger, stronger and has been on an unbelievable roll as of late, taking out top contenders Jim Miller and Clay Guida in his last two fights—and perhaps even more impressive is that he out-wrestled two of the best wrestlers in the division.
Watching Henderson steamroll through a couple of strong contenders has given him a ton of credibility in the eyes of fans, but these same people seemed to have forgotten just how good Frankie Edgar is.
After hearing how good Penn’s boxing and takedown defense were for months, Edgar went out and stole a close decision over “The Prodigy” at UFC 112. A few months later, he was forced to give Penn an immediate rematch.
The second bout at UFC 118 was Edgar’s coming-out party, as he proved he was the real deal—out-boxing Penn for a solid-five rounds and seemingly dragging the Hawaiian native to the mat at will—something no one had ever done at lightweight.
Still, after defeating the most dominant fighter in the history of the 155-pound division on two-consecutive occasions, Edgar was looked upon as the weakest of the UFC’s champions. Many picked Gray Maynard to smash him in their rematch at UFC 125.
Maynard had won the first bout between these two, and he seemed well on his way to doubling up on his victory as he demolished Edgar in the first round—knocking “The Answer” down on numerous occasions and almost certainly sealing the victory.
However, as the fight wore on—Edgar got stronger. After coming back and winning the latter half of the fight, he ended up doing enough to have the fight scored as a draw.
Edgar was able to keep his belt, but a rematch was once again on the horizon.
Just seconds after touching gloves in their UFC 136-trilogy bout, it seemed like déjà vu had reared its ugly head as Maynard sent Edgar sprawling onto the canvas with a big punch—once again he had seemed to damage the champion beyond all repair.
But Edgar showed the same fighting spirit that had kept him alive during the first bout, and this time it worked to his advantage as he hurt Maynard in the fourth round. And he was able to secure a TKO victory.
After defeating the man that most proclaimed was the greatest in the history of his division and avenging his only loss in his last four bouts, Edgar should be mentioned among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. But just like he has been his entire career—he is being overlooked.
A win this weekend over Benson Henderson won’t come easy, and Edgar will likely—once again—have to dig deep in order to achieve victory over the much bigger and stronger fighter.
However, if the bout is in the latter rounds and a frustrated Henderson starts looking at the undersized, indestructible champion across from him like he has two heads—that’s where Edgar has the fight won.
And if Edgar ends up with his hand raised after another five-round war, well, maybe then he’ll finally get treated like a champion.
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