Edgar argues that the UFC owes him after he stepped up last second to face Brian Ortega, losing his original title shot in the process.
Max Holloway’s future at lightweight may not be looking very bright at the moment following a clear loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 236, but he’s still the undisputed king of the featherweights. Now that the UFC is backing off their insistence that “Blessed” is too big for 145, it looks like we’re going to see him continue to defend his belt for the foreseeable future.
The only problem? Holloway has already done a pretty good job of cleaning out the division. He whupped a bunch of the best coming up, and he’s whupped even more after claiming the championship. Right now there’s only two guys who haven’t faced Holloway that tick the right boxes for a title shot: Alexander Volkanovski (should he get past Jose Aldo at UFC 237 on May 11th) and Frankie Edgar. Edgar made his case for dibs in an interview with ESPN.
”I think everybody knows it should go to me,” Edgar said. “Even the guys who want the shot, you [hear] them say ‘Well, I know Frankie should get it, but…’ You know? Alexander Volkanovski is fighting Jose Aldo in a few weeks and that may have an impact, but I think everybody knows it’s me. I’ve worked my entire career for it to be me.”
Edgar and Holloway were set to fight at UFC 222 back in March of 2018, but Holloway was pulled off last minute after video of him slurring his speech during an interview became impossible to ignore. Edgar did the UFC a solid by accepting Brian Ortega as a last minute replacement, only to get knocked out for the first time in his long career.
”The fact I put it on the line the last time Max and I were supposed to meet up, that holds some weight,” Edgar argued. “I know the UFC likes to reward people who are willing to just let it fly. I’ve done that my whole career. I’m ready for that reward.”
UN – BE – LIEV – ABLE#UFC222 @BrianTCity pic.twitter.com/xb3DaB7ssD
— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2018
If the UFC agrees, this would mark the sixth time they’ve granted Frankie a title shot. It took him just two wins after losing to then-champ Jose Aldo to get the original booking against Holloway, and a torn bicep has limited Frankie to just one win since the Ortega KO.
”I know I’m only on a one-fight win streak,” Frankie admitted. “But people do realize that I took a risk and went for it. And I’d do it again, because that’s the kind of guy I am.”
The implication is clear: don’t expect Edgar to save any more shows unless you pay it forward on that last one. Unfortunately for him, it would be hard to ignore Alexander Volkanovski if he beats Jose Aldo in May. “Scarface” has been on a roll and would be in this discussion if Holloway hadn’t already beaten him twice. Volkanovski would increase his UFC winning streak to 7 with a win over Aldo, and that’s a pretty hard to ignore especially considering Edgar is coming up on a year since his last fight.
What do you think, Maniacs? Who would you like to see fight for the featherweight title next?