UFC featherweight contender Frankie Edgar is receiving high praise from fans, reporters and fellow fighters alike after his brutal mauling of Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 57, but the highest praise may have been that given by lightweight staple Diego Sanchez.
Shortly after The Answer scored the latest submission in UFC history, tapping Swanson with a neck crank with just four seconds remaining on the clock, Sanchez took to Twitter to evaluate his performance.
@FrankieEdgar surpasses gsp as best wrestler in mma tonight & gets settled in at 145 #wow
— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 23, 2014
Georges St-Pierre, the longtime UFC welterweight champion who is currently on a hiatus from the sport, is notorious for being able to get his opponents down to the mat at will.
Despite not having a decorated amateur wrestling background, St-Pierre’s takedowns have always been regarded as second to none inside the cage.
Edgar, a standout Division I wrestler during his college days at Clarion University, put on a stunning wrestling clinic in his bout with Swanson.
Also an assistant wrestling coach at Rutgers University, Edgar went seven for 10 on his takedowns and had no interest in letting the Greg Jackson’s MMA product back up once the bout hit the canvas.
Additionally, the former UFC lightweight champ utilized slick guard-passing and vicious ground-and-pound before scoring a rare finish with a neck crank in the bout’s waning moments.
Routinely undersized at lightweight, Edgar managed to score power double-leg takedowns against much larger opponents (such as Gray Maynard and Benson Henderson) on more than one occasion.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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