Conor McGregor believes Frankie Edgar is in desperation mode and plans to make him “sit for a while” before earning a featherweight title shot.
It’s been three years since Frankie Edgar last fought for a UFC title and the consensus is that he’s long overdue another championship epic.
The Toms River product, who lost to then-champion Jose Aldo in a competitive five-round fight at UFC 156, is riding a five-fight win streak and is listed as the #2 ranked featherweight in the world. Dana White promised to deliver the goods after he knocked out top featherweight contender Chad Mendes in December but Conor McGregor had other plans.
After KO’ing Jose Aldo in a record-setting time of thirteen seconds to claim the featherweight title at UFC 194, the Irishman promised to take the lightweight throne in his next fight. “The Notorious” will challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the 155 lbs. strap in a champion vs. champion superfight at UFC 197.
When promoting the bout at a recent press conference, McGregor vowed to make Edgar wait his turn after desperately “begging” for a title shot.
“Frankie has a little bit of desperation about him or something,” McGregor said. “He went 0-2 at lightweight, got the chance to fight for the featherweight title and got the head slapped off him. Now he’s running around begging. It has a stink of desperation off of it, so I’m just going to let him sit for a while.”
Edgar, 34, had a keen eye on the press conference and is now rooting for McGregor to dethrone dos Anjos in March. “The Answer” is hoping to strip McGregor of the 145 lbs. title at UFC 200 and then claim the lightweight belt in a rematch at the end of the year.
Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos will headline the UFC 197 PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 5th.
(Transcripts via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie)