Any talk of former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar going back up to 155 pounds following his featherweight championship loss to Jose Aldo have been put to rest by UFC president Dana White.
Speaking after the UFC 156 superfight between Edgar and Aldo, White said (h/t MMA Junkie), “He’s not going to 55… That’s not going to happen.”
Instead, White suggested, that Edgar could drop down even further and fight at bantamweight instead.
Edgar has long been regarded as an undersized lightweight. At 5’6″ he’s even smaller than featherweight champ Aldo, but like the Rocky Balboa of the sport, he’s managed to upset the odds and defeat giant 155-pounders such as BJ Penn and Gray Maynard.
However, he’s also taken severe beatings in his fights, and it was no different against Aldo at 145 pounds when he came off second-best in opening exchanges. Edgar did finish strong in the later rounds, as he usually does, but for the third fight in a row it wasn’t enough to sway the judges.
That has left the former champion searching for a new challenge, and some have suggested that he would be better suited going further down to 135 pounds.
“I like that better,” White said. “The lower he goes, the happier I am. I don’t want him going any higher.”
The current 135-pound champ is Dominick Cruz, who, at 5’8″, is still bigger than Edgar. Cruz has held the UFC bantamweight belt since the division was created, but he’s been suffering a knee injury which has sidelined him for the foreseeable future.
However, there are other interesting fights for Edgar at 135 pounds as well. Current bantamweight titleholder Renan Barão is on an incredible 30-fight undefeated streak and could prove a lucrative opponent for Edgar.
Whatever he decides, one thing that is certain is that his boss has no intention of seeing him go back up a weight division.
“I like Frankie Edgar a lot as a person,” White said. “Take away the whole fighting thing—I like him as a person, as a human being, and I don’t ever want to see him at 155 pounds. The guys are too big and too strong at 155.”
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