Frankie Edgar: Dana White ‘knew I got stepped over’ with Conor McGregor’s title shot

Frankie Edgar’s mic stylings may never reach the theatrical heights of Conor McGregor’s, but sometimes the direct approach can be just as effective. After sweeping Urijah Faber with another brilliant performance Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 66, Edgar seized the moment and called out his boss, UFC President Dana White, who for the second time in as many fights, was nowhere to be found as Edgar outclassed another contender.

It was an honest, if rather unexpected rant as the usually reserved Edgar reminded audiences worldwide that White “owed” him a title shot and wondered aloud whether the UFC head was “ducking” him. While the latter bit was intended as a joke, Edgar doubled down on the former Monday on The MMA Hour, stating that White did indeed owe him another shot at the featherweight title.

“I think he knows that, too,” Edgar said.

“Listen, when me and Cub (Swanson) were fighting, Cub was pretty much promised the next title shot if he beat me. So, you know, what does that mean? He’s promised the next title shot, so if I beat him, I should get it, right? … Then after I fought and beat Cub, he pretty much kind of told me that, most likely, if McGregor wins he’s going to get the title shot. He didn’t say it exactly, but in not so many words, he told me, ‘but you never know, maybe (Dennis) Siver could beat him.’ So if Siver beat him, that implied I was going to get the title shot. So I felt like he knew I got stepped over a little bit with McGregor, and here I am, I just blanked out Urijah — he owes me a title shot.”

Edgar’s clean sweep of Faber is just the latest entry of a dominant four-fight win streak at featherweight that has revived discussion of Edgar being one of the world’s most talented pound-for-pound fighters. “The Answer” claimed every round of the match-up between future Hall of Famers, and aside from a bloody nose, emerged relatively unscathed from a five-round affair with the man Edgar looked up to early in his MMA career.

It’s a scalp Edgar knows he can proud of, even if reaction from the fight has been decidedly mixed. Neither Edgar nor Faber found themselves in any serious danger throughout the technical battle, leaving the bloodlust of some grumbling fight fans unsatisfied. Edgar himself admitted to initially being disappointed by the lack of action moments or swings in momentum throughout the contest, though he acknowledged that sometimes it happens when you’re fighting the best of the best.

“You know, it’s tough,” Edgar said. “Of course, I wanted to have more [action]. To be honest, I wanted to have more of that. But it kind of takes two guys to do that, and I feel like I was chasing Urijah a lot. In my defense, I couldn’t overdo it, because I mean, it is Urijah Faber. He’s very dangerous. I couldn’t be overaggressive, so I definitely pushed. I think if I pushed a little too much, I could’ve left some openings for him.

“He was coming too, but I would’ve liked to have a little more action. I’m an action fighter. If they don’t bring it, I’m going to bring it to them. And I feel like I did that.”

The meeting between Edgar and Faber is one that has been hotly debated for years, ever since Edgar seized UFC gold as a scrappy, undersized 155-pounder. In theory, the bout should’ve been one of the biggest, if not the biggest non-title fight of the summer. However, in reality, it somewhat fell by the wayside as a foreign headliner on a rare Saturday morning FOX Sports 1 card, one which began while the majority of the United States’ western coast was still asleep, and came and went with very little promotion from the UFC.

Edgar subtly voiced frustration on social media regarding the situation last month, and Monday acknowledged that he felt the lack of buzz and promotion from what should have been one of the most important wins of his career.

“You know, I thought more could’ve been done. I agree with you,” Edgar told host Ariel Helwani. “Just because it’s me and Faber, man. People have been talking about this forever. I mean, two guys who have been at the top of the game for a minute now, and for them to kind of miss that opportunity to get it out there, I was a little surprised. This fight, the fight sells itself, 100-percent, but that extra boost could’ve only helped. We were fighting in the morning, so we could’ve used as much as we could get.”

Either way, with another win now under his belt, Edgar lands back into a holding pattern as the UFC irons out its featherweight division. Reigning champion Jose Aldo is slated to defend his title against McGregor in a blockbuster fight on July 11, and Edgar reiterated that he wouldn’t mind waiting to see how that situation plays out before planning his next move.

An Aldo win could very well lead to Edgar’s elusive second title shot. That’s the scenario Edgar is pinning his hopes on. With four increasingly impressive wins at featherweight, the 33-year-old Edgar believes he’s in the prime of his career and is a vastly different fighter from the man who two years ago fell just short of a second round of gold.

“That (Aldo) fight was close, man,” Edgar said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, not just the fans, some writers, they think I won (rounds) three, four, and five. And that was my first fight down (at featherweight). I do think I’m a better fighter now, and I’m sure he is too. It’s been a while, but yeah, I want another shot at him. I think I can make up that ground now.

“I know the Republican and Democratic parties, they’re on the campaign trail right now,” Edgar added, laughing. “I’m on the campaign trail right now. I’m going to use my political science background here. To everyone listening, to my guys, to my fans, to the Frankie Edgar fans, definitely get on Dana (and campaign for a title shot). I see a bunch have already, but that can only help.”

Frankie Edgar’s mic stylings may never reach the theatrical heights of Conor McGregor’s, but sometimes the direct approach can be just as effective. After sweeping Urijah Faber with another brilliant performance Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 66, Edgar seized the moment and called out his boss, UFC President Dana White, who for the second time in as many fights, was nowhere to be found as Edgar outclassed another contender.

It was an honest, if rather unexpected rant as the usually reserved Edgar reminded audiences worldwide that White “owed” him a title shot and wondered aloud whether the UFC head was “ducking” him. While the latter bit was intended as a joke, Edgar doubled down on the former Monday on The MMA Hour, stating that White did indeed owe him another shot at the featherweight title.

“I think he knows that, too,” Edgar said.

“Listen, when me and Cub (Swanson) were fighting, Cub was pretty much promised the next title shot if he beat me. So, you know, what does that mean? He’s promised the next title shot, so if I beat him, I should get it, right? … Then after I fought and beat Cub, he pretty much kind of told me that, most likely, if McGregor wins he’s going to get the title shot. He didn’t say it exactly, but in not so many words, he told me, ‘but you never know, maybe (Dennis) Siver could beat him.’ So if Siver beat him, that implied I was going to get the title shot. So I felt like he knew I got stepped over a little bit with McGregor, and here I am, I just blanked out Urijah — he owes me a title shot.”

Edgar’s clean sweep of Faber is just the latest entry of a dominant four-fight win streak at featherweight that has revived discussion of Edgar being one of the world’s most talented pound-for-pound fighters. “The Answer” claimed every round of the match-up between future Hall of Famers, and aside from a bloody nose, emerged relatively unscathed from a five-round affair with the man Edgar looked up to early in his MMA career.

It’s a scalp Edgar knows he can proud of, even if reaction from the fight has been decidedly mixed. Neither Edgar nor Faber found themselves in any serious danger throughout the technical battle, leaving the bloodlust of some grumbling fight fans unsatisfied. Edgar himself admitted to initially being disappointed by the lack of action moments or swings in momentum throughout the contest, though he acknowledged that sometimes it happens when you’re fighting the best of the best.

“You know, it’s tough,” Edgar said. “Of course, I wanted to have more [action]. To be honest, I wanted to have more of that. But it kind of takes two guys to do that, and I feel like I was chasing Urijah a lot. In my defense, I couldn’t overdo it, because I mean, it is Urijah Faber. He’s very dangerous. I couldn’t be overaggressive, so I definitely pushed. I think if I pushed a little too much, I could’ve left some openings for him.

“He was coming too, but I would’ve liked to have a little more action. I’m an action fighter. If they don’t bring it, I’m going to bring it to them. And I feel like I did that.”

The meeting between Edgar and Faber is one that has been hotly debated for years, ever since Edgar seized UFC gold as a scrappy, undersized 155-pounder. In theory, the bout should’ve been one of the biggest, if not the biggest non-title fight of the summer. However, in reality, it somewhat fell by the wayside as a foreign headliner on a rare Saturday morning FOX Sports 1 card, one which began while the majority of the United States’ western coast was still asleep, and came and went with very little promotion from the UFC.

Edgar subtly voiced frustration on social media regarding the situation last month, and Monday acknowledged that he felt the lack of buzz and promotion from what should have been one of the most important wins of his career.

“You know, I thought more could’ve been done. I agree with you,” Edgar told host Ariel Helwani. “Just because it’s me and Faber, man. People have been talking about this forever. I mean, two guys who have been at the top of the game for a minute now, and for them to kind of miss that opportunity to get it out there, I was a little surprised. This fight, the fight sells itself, 100-percent, but that extra boost could’ve only helped. We were fighting in the morning, so we could’ve used as much as we could get.”

Either way, with another win now under his belt, Edgar lands back into a holding pattern as the UFC irons out its featherweight division. Reigning champion Jose Aldo is slated to defend his title against McGregor in a blockbuster fight on July 11, and Edgar reiterated that he wouldn’t mind waiting to see how that situation plays out before planning his next move.

An Aldo win could very well lead to Edgar’s elusive second title shot. That’s the scenario Edgar is pinning his hopes on. With four increasingly impressive wins at featherweight, the 33-year-old Edgar believes he’s in the prime of his career and is a vastly different fighter from the man who two years ago fell just short of a second round of gold.

“That (Aldo) fight was close, man,” Edgar said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, not just the fans, some writers, they think I won (rounds) three, four, and five. And that was my first fight down (at featherweight). I do think I’m a better fighter now, and I’m sure he is too. It’s been a while, but yeah, I want another shot at him. I think I can make up that ground now.

“I know the Republican and Democratic parties, they’re on the campaign trail right now,” Edgar added, laughing. “I’m on the campaign trail right now. I’m going to use my political science background here. To everyone listening, to my guys, to my fans, to the Frankie Edgar fans, definitely get on Dana (and campaign for a title shot). I see a bunch have already, but that can only help.”