Frankie Edgar is somehow still improving, ladies and gents.
At 33 years old with 23 pro fights under his belt, Edgar should have shown us his full array of skills inside the cage by now.
We’ve seen him in title fights and in No. 1 contender’s fights, we’ve seen him traverse two weight classes, we’ve seen him coach The Ultimate Fighter and, if you were paying close enough attention, we also caught a glimpse of his home and his personal life.
Really, there isn’t much about Frankie Edgar we haven’t been tuned into, and yet “The Answer” stepped up at UFC Fight Night 57 and looked better than ever, dismantling top challenger Cub Swanson for five rounds before finishing the deed with a last-second submission (literally).
The win was arguably the best of Edgar’s career, and such a performance begs the question: “Just how good is Frankie Edgar anyway?”
He’s damn good. His heart, his cardio and his will to win isn’t going anywhere, and his offensive wrestling and top control have looked downright phenomenal in his past two fights, one against BJ Penn and one against Swanson.
He finished each fight before the final bell and barely ate a punch while doing so. Before the fight with Swanson, Edgar was ranked No. 3 in the division, so there’s not much more vertical movement he can achieve before challenging for Jose Aldo’s title (again).
Is that what’s next? Edgar certainly seems to think so.
Let’s take a look at three fights that make sense for the former UFC lightweight champion moving forward.
We’ll start with the least likely scenario and progress from there.