Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar suffered the first stoppage loss of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career after he was knocked out by Brian Ortega at UFC 222 on March 3, 2018.
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The sting from the loss was elevated after “T-City” was awarded the next title shot against Max Holloway, one that was already in “The Answer’s” bag had he chosen to wait it out after “Blessed” bowed out with an injury.
Edgar isn’t one to sit and sulk, however, as he has he has no regrets of accepting a short-notice bout against Ortega.
“You can’t go back and change things and I am not one to sit there and say ‘I wish I did something different,’ you know? I made that (choice) and I am going to stand by my decision and I have to be a man about it,” said Edgar on a recent edition of The MMA Hour.
His title fight against Holloway had already been cancelled once before after Frankie suffered an injury prior to UFC 218. Despite his recent setback in the title hunt, Edgar feels his is still only two impressive wins away from getting back to the front of the line.
“I feel like I am still close, maybe not one, but two. As long as I keep training hard and keep putting myself in the right position, I will always be knocking on that door, so, my mentality hasn’t changed, I still want to be a champion,” he added.
“I know that path might be a little different, but I am still positive, you know? I’m not beat up, I got put down, rocked and stopped. I have to deal with it, come to terms with it, but, I am ready to put that work in and achieve these goals again.”
As far as a drop down to Bantamweight, Edgar says that was not an option, as he still hopes to win gold at 145 pounds, though the door won’t be completely shut on another drop down in weight.
Frankie will make a quick turnaround in hopes of erasing the memory of his knockout loss to Ortega and hopefully expedite his road to the title when he hopes to score another win over Cub Swanson the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 128 event in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 21, 2018.
In regards to critics who say Edgar should’ve taken more time to recuperate from his most recent loss for health reasons and/or to get his mind right, Frankie says at the end of the day, he is the one getting in there and his decision won’t be swayed.