Frankie Edgar has been in the headlines since turning down the short notice offer to fight Conor McGregor this Saturday, leading to him claiming that the “C” in “UFC” stands for “Conor.”
On Monday, “The Answer” appeared on The MMA Hour and spoke about turning down the McGregor fight, as well as his belief that Diaz has a chance to “spoil the party” at UFC 196.
On the chances he feels Nate Diaz has against Conor McGregor:
“I don’t know, man, I think Nate could go in there and spoil the party, and then [McGregor] has to come back down to 145,” Edgar said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I think that’s best case scenario.
“I give him a real shot. His pressure and volume is just tough to deal with for anybody. You know, Conor’s biggest thing is range and length, and he doesn’t have it in this fight. A southpaw against southpaw, I think a lot could happen there.”
On his injury and reason he turned down the short notice McGregor fight:
“The first week, I was having a hard time sitting on the toilet,” Edgar explained. “But it got better and I like to stay doing something. I have to stay doing something because I’ll go crazy. I’m just doing what I can. Obviously I can’t roll, I can’t wrestle, I can’t spar. I can hit mitts a little bit and I’ve been lifting weights. I’m just doing what I can do to keep somewhat in shape.
“To be honest, I’m kind of surprised by how long this is keeping me out. Most of my injuries in the past have been overuse injuries, bulged disc, nerve pain. This is actually something that actually happened, where it popped. I thought I’d be well more ahead than where I am now, because again, I don’t like to be stagnant too long. So I thought I’d be back training a little more than I am, but you know, that’s the way that it goes.”
On the reaction to him turning down the fight due to injury:
“[The fight] was up at 155. I just thought RDA, he’s been looking great lately. Obviously we share the same manager, and from what I understood, everything was going great and I wasn’t really banking on me even getting a call,” Edgar said. “That’s kind of what pissed me off too, I’m sitting here recovering from injury and people are looking down at me because I didn’t take the fight on 10 days’ notice at a weight class I’m not even in, for not even the title. That’s kind of what got under my skin.”
On if he would have taken the fight if he was healthy:
“I mean, I was even enticed by the idea of taking it now,” Edgar admitted. “But luckily I didn’t, man. I’m in no shape to be fighting, or training, to be honest. But if I was healthy and even half-assed trained, for sure, I would’ve taken that fight.”
On what Diaz needs to do to get the win:
“I think he has to win this fight the same way he always does,” Edgar said. “Just, pressure. You’ve got to put pressure on Conor, and he’s got to take the kicks away as much as possible. Conor is definitely crafty. He has many different kicks, and [Diaz] has to put the pressure, get close enough to negate the kicks, and just be himself.”