Frankie Edgar is the current UFC lightweight champion, and is coming off a great win over rival Gray Maynard. He has jettisoned himself into the pound-for-pound rankings and now has successfully defended (including the retained draw) his title three ti…
Frankie Edgar is the current UFC lightweight champion, and is coming off a great win over rival Gray Maynard. He has jettisoned himself into the pound-for-pound rankings and now has successfully defended (including the retained draw) his title three times.
But now that he is still the champion, where does his career path lie?
This list is the top five guys for Frankie Edgar to face in the coming future. Most of the people mentioned have fights by the end of the year, and will help thin out who is worthy of the title shot, but for now, the 155 division is stacked. Now that Melvin Guillard is temporarily out the picture, here are the five that are waiting their turn.
After this past Saturday’s UFC 136 card, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issued five medical suspensions to the fighters, all of which exceed 10 days, according to MMAjunkie.com.Gray Maynard, who was knocked out by …
After this past Saturday’s UFC 136 card, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issued five medical suspensions to the fighters, all of which exceed 10 days, according to MMAjunkie.com.
Gray Maynard, who was knocked out by UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the main event, was issued a suspension of 60 days.
Edgar survived a first-round assault from his bigger opponent and survived long enough to get Maynard on his heels before knocking him out in the fourth round.
Other suspensions include those issued to Leonard Garcia, Eric Schafer and Mike Massenzio.
Garcia lost a unanimous decision to Nam Phan in the event’s fight of the night. Eric Schafer suffered a decision loss to Aaron Simpson. Massenzio defeated Steve Cantwell but not without facing adversity in the first round.
Filed under: UFCJust in case UFC president Dana White had any doubts about what he would do next with the middleweight division — and before UFC 136, he seemed a bit torn — Chael Sonnen made his case with his actions and his mouth. Afterward, it seem…
Just in case UFC president Dana White had any doubts about what he would do next with the middleweight division — and before UFC 136, he seemed a bit torn — Chael Sonnen made his case with his actions and his mouth. Afterward, it seemed clear that White would grant Sonnen his wish for a rematch with division champion Anderson Silva.
According to White, it’s a matchup that Silva wants, too, because, as he told MMA Fighting, Silva “hates him with a passion.” The funny thing is, Silva should love Sonnen. He should send him thank you cards. And 20 years from now, he’ll probably feel that way. Because regardless of his words, Sonnen has helped to raise Silva’s profile and to define his career.
Years from now, when Silva is old and we have a stronger grasp of MMA history, the win over Sonnen will be seen as the defining one of his career. It was a victory that only a champion could have pulled out. Silva was fighting with a severe rib injury, and was trailing badly on the judges’ scorecards — 40-34 on one judge’s card. The fifth round started much the same as the first four, with a Sonnen takedown. But Silva somehow willed one last gasp triangle that caught Sonnen and forced a tapout.
Of course, master fight promoter Sonnen barely waited to begin talk of a rematch. It was at the post-fight press conference that same night when he said, in Silva’s presence, “Here’s the truth: if the commission would sanction it and Dana would move, I would fight him again right now.”
If we’ve learned anything about White over time, it’s that he loves a fighter who proactively campaigns for opportunities. Passion moves him. Whether you love or hate Sonnen, you can’t deny his passion. And after his first performance against Silva, you can’t deny he has a chance to win. That should mean big interest in the fight, and big business for the event, and even Anderson Silva should be able to appreciate that.
Frank Edgar
Edgar has spent the last two years of his life focused on two fighters: BJ Penn and Gray Maynard. He has to be thrilled about moving on. And he also has to be thrilled about finishing his toughest opponent after nearly 12 rounds of war, earning a decisive conclusion.
Edgar will take off the next two weeks or so, and he won’t be back in the cage until early next year. Gilbert Melendez has been mentioned, but for now it seems like Melendez’s status is up in the air. That makes it a toss-up as to whether Edgar will face him next, or a UFC lightweight.
Prediction: Edgar faces the winner of UFC on FOX 1’s Ben Henderson vs. Clay Guida fight
Gray Maynard
Maynard seemed heartbroken after UFC 136, and you can’t blame him. He came within a punch or two of winning the lightweight title in two different fights and couldn’t close it out.
There is a silver lining though, as his competitive performances have shown that he is clearly capable of giving the world’s best a run for their money. And after having been tied up with Edgar so long, there are plenty of fresh matchups out there for him.
Prediction: He faces the loser of UFC on FOX 1’s Henderson vs. Guida fight
Jose Aldo
Aldo received some criticism for his win over Kenny Florian from those who believed he was too conservative with his offense. But with the way Florian was attacking him, Aldo did the right thing. Florian was looking to take away Aldo’s explosiveness by either taking him down or grinding him against the cage. By FightMetric’s count, Florian tried 19 takedowns (and only completed one).
Even if you didn’t watch the fight, from those number you can surmise that Florian didn’t give Aldo much room to operate. Aldo had to worry about defense for good reason, and he did a great job with it. It may not be any easier in his next fight.
Prediction: He faces unbeaten Chad Mendes in early 2012.
Kenny Florian
At least in the immediate aftermath of UFC 136, Florian looked like a man who was done with fighting. Verbally, he wouldn’t commit to either continuing or retirement, and rightfully, Florian should take time to consider all his options. At 35 years old, Florian is still a very good fighter, and he could certainly continue on and seek out intriguing matchups if he so chose. But Florian has always said his goal was a UFC championship belt, and now it appears that will never happen. That leads me to wonder if he will have the proper motivation to go through the grind of training camps. Hopefully he makes a decision he can embrace wholeheartedly.
Prediction: Florian retires and continues his strong work in broadcasting
Chael Sonnen
Sonnen’s performance Saturday night was nothing short of systematic destruction. Sonnen finished off Stann with the arm triangle choke and got up off the canvas with a stoic, focused look on his face. It seemed like there was something on his mind other than Stann, and we quickly found out what it was. Bring on the rematch.
Prediction: Silva-Sonnen II
Brian Stann
Stann is a strong, powerful dude, but he had no prayer of stopping Sonnen’s takedowns. He’ll always be a tough matchup for strikers, but wrestlers are always going to try to follow the blueprint laid by Sonnen and Phil Davis. Fortunately for Stann, there aren’t an overwhelming number of wrestlers. Anyway, it’s time to retool and reload for Stann.
Prediction: Stann might have a bit of a wait until his next fight. I’m thinking he could face Mark Munoz if Munoz should lose to Chris Leben next month, or if not, Stann gets someone like a returning Alessio Sakara.
Joe Lauzon
Lauzon has some of the best finishing instincts in the UFC, fearless in his attempts to close out a fight. His win over Melvin Guillard was a shocker, entering the fight as a massive underdog. Despite the big win, Lauzon’s only 3-2 in his last five, so it’s hard to figure exactly where he fits in the lightweight hierarchy.
Prediction: TJ Grant looked very good in his lightweight debut. Sounds like a good matchup.
Anthony Pettis
When the UFC announced Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens, no one was expecting a slow grind of a fight. And while it wasn’t Pettis’ best performance, he proved he could go in there against a rugged, powerful striker and win. Ultimately, Pettis isn’t going to win a title with his wrestling, so I don’t expect him to employ the same kind of game plan against anyone. Let’s get him back in there against another striker.
Prediction: Pettis faces Sam Stout
Stipe Miocic
You may or may not have seen the debut of Miocic, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound heavyweight who outlasted the always tough Joey Beltran during the prelims. Miocic looked good but not great against a guy who is among the UFC’s most durable heavyweights. But even though he has plenty of work to do, it was a positive first step.
Prediction: He faces Mark Hunt
Forty-eight hours ago, two men entered, and later left a sold-out Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with championship gold around their waists. UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo successfully defended their co…
Forty-eight hours ago, two men entered, and later left a sold-out Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with championship gold around their waists.
UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo successfully defended their coveted belts against dangerous challengers—Gray Maynard and Kenny Florian—in the UFC 136 double headliner.
Aldo neutralized Florian in a technical five-round affair, and Edgar shocked the world with a fourth-round stoppage in his trilogy with Maynard.
Of course, anytime you have two champions who aren’t too far off in weight, you can’t help but fantasize about a dream matchup between the two.
This is exactly why fans desperately crave a fight between middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, or a battle between Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez. There’s just something about two champions colliding that draws in anticipation like no other.
Such is the same with Edgar and Aldo. Even UFC President Dana White admitted in the post-fight press conference that he’d like to see this fight come to fruition in the near future.
It probably won’t be the next fight on the horizon, though. Edgar will likely defend against Ben Henderson/Clay Guida, and Aldo will challenge the unbeaten Chad Mendes.
Nevertheless, if these two champions continue their winning ways, a dream bout between the two is inevitable.
Everyone is bound to have different opinions on this fantasy bout, but here’s my take on why Edgar would clown Aldo.
Frankie Edgar has overcome tougher competition
Before I explain, let me just state that I am not by any means attempting to discredit Aldo. The Brazilian is a true phenom with a ferocious skill set, but he is not untouchable, Mark Hominick proved that in their UFC 129 slugfest.
As a standup fighter, Aldo possesses a yin-yang blend of flawless technique/timing and destructive knockout power. He is also a highly-decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the Nogueira brothers, but it is a skill that still had yet to be seen in the Octagon.
Simply put, Aldo is every bit as good as the media makes him out to be, but he hasn’t beaten the type of opposition that Edgar has dealt with since becoming champion.
Aldo has demolished many formidable contenders, but none compare to B.J Penn and Gray Maynard. Edgar beat Penn twice and just became the first man to not only defeat, but knock out Maynard in an official MMA bout.
Aldo has more title defenses under his belt, if you count his WEC title defenses. He has destroyed Mike Thomas Brown and Manny Gamburyan, picked apart a very game Urijah Faber, and outpointed dangerous foes in Hominick and Florian.
Good wins, but nothing to be overly impressed with as they were all matchups that Aldo was supposed to win.
Edgar was not supposed to beat Penn for the title at UFC 112, and he certainly wasn’t supposed to do the exact same thing in the rematch at UFC 118.
In his second fight with a then-unbeaten Maynard, Edgar was expected to lose to “The Bully” once again. Maynard swarmed all over Edgar in the first round with powerful boxing, but Edgar survived and arguably won the rest of the rounds.
Leading up to the trilogy fight, Edgar was actually the favorite for once, but nobody expected the New Jersey native to finish Maynard, much less knock him out.
Edgar has overcome adversity against elite contenders and rose to the occasion—Aldo has yet to do that.
Frankie Edgar is a nightmare matchup for Aldo
Aldo is a far superior striker than Maynard, but Maynard is a much more powerful human being. If Maynard, with all of his power, connected on Edgar’s chin multiple times and could not put him away, Aldo will fail in that department as well.
Even if Aldo has the technique and the speed behind his punches that Maynard lacked, Edgar can take it and keep moving.
Edgar isn’t on Aldo’s level when it comes to striking, but the lightweight champ is one of the best boxers for MMA. Edgar’s slick head movement and tricky footwork will keep Aldo guessing, and once “The Answer” decides to mix in some takedowns, Edgar will take complete control of the fight.
I mentioned before that Aldo is an extremely crafty BJJ black belt, but Edgar is no slouch when it comes to rolling. Trained by elite Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida, Edgar has one of the best ground games in the division.
Edgar would be able to maintain top control and pummel Aldo with a relentless ground-and-pound assault. This would be Edgar’s smartest route to victory, but with his well-rounded arsenal he could find a way to win in just about any position.
Aldo is very talented, but one mistake that many fans seem to make is comparing the featherweight champion to Anderson Silva.
Sure, there are similarities in style and they are on the same team, but Aldo isn’t quite there yet. The featherweight division itself is still developing.
Aldo is undeniably the best at 145 pounds, but Florian was his biggest test and he did not dominate. No disrespect to Florian, but Edgar is a different, better beast.
Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest featured columnist on B/R MMA and a United States Airman. Follow Ciccarelli on Twitter @mitchciccarelli
(If Jesse Ventura ever sees this, someone out there is going to get sued. / Props to MMAFighting.)
As a long time UFC fan, I’ve recently noticed that their marketing team has seemingly taken a break from using corny phrases to label their events. In fact, the last UFC pay-per-view to not be named after the fighters in the main event was back at UFC 125: Resolution, which featured the eventual draw between, you guessed it, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You just don’t see that kind of irony everyday.
UFC 136 was actually able to provide us with closure, however — more closure in fact than any card in quite a while. Not only did Edgar vindicate himself in triumphant fashion, but Jose Aldo proved to many of his critics that his gas tank is not an issue, Kenny Florian proved that he will never, ever, win a title fight, and Chael Sonnen proved that ring rust is for the weak. But now, we look to the future, and more importantly, try to predict it for the weekend’s big winners. So if you think our future match-ups are garbage, be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
(If Jesse Ventura ever sees this, someone out there is going to get sued. / Props to MMAFighting.)
As a long time UFC fan, I’ve recently noticed that their marketing team has seemingly taken a break from using corny phrases to label their events. In fact, the last UFC pay-per-view to not be named after the fighters in the main event was back at UFC 125: Resolution, which featured the eventual draw between, you guessed it, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You just don’t see that kind of irony everyday.
UFC 136 was actually able to provide us with closure, however — more closure in fact than any card in quite a while. Not only did Edgar vindicate himself in triumphant fashion, but Jose Aldo proved to many of his critics that his gas tank is not an issue, Kenny Florian proved that he will never, ever, win a title fight, and Chael Sonnen proved that ring rust is for the weak. But now, we look to the future, and more importantly, try to predict it for the weekend’s big winners. So if you think our future match-ups are garbage, be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Frankie Edgar: There weren’t many of us out there who picked Edgar to finish Maynard in such decisive fashion, let alone with strikes. But with his brilliant come from behind win, Edgar showcased yet another ever improving aspect of his game, and has emphatically earned his spot in the pound-for-pound rankings, though maybe not as high up as Dana would think. Though it seems Gilbert Melendez is destined for the next shot, we think the winner of the Ben Henderson/Clay Guida match deserves it just as much, if not more. Henderson presents many of the same challenges to Edgar as Maynard did, so it would be interesting to see if he would fare any better. And the thought of seeing Edgar and Guida bounce around like they had just tasted sugar for the first time is enough to give us an epileptic seizure.
Jose Aldo: I may be in the minority here, but I wasn’t exactly blown away by Aldo’s performance against “Kenflo” this past weekend. Yes, his takedown defense looked great, but let’s not forget that wrestling has never been Florian’s strong suit. Chad Mendes, on the other hand, has absolutely dominated past opponents with his wrestling, and his stand up is improving by the day. If he can get inside on Aldo, we could be seeing a very different kind of riddle for Aldo to solve. But outside of Mendes and a possible future rematch with Mark Hominick, there don’t seem to be many featherweight match-ups at the moment that spark a lot of interest. Lightweight however, is an entirely different story…
Chael Sonnen: You have to be one arrogant son of a bitch to think that you cannot only hand pick your future opponent’s, but pick the day on which you will fight them as well. Luckily, Chael Sonnen’s arrogance is beginning to take on it’s own persona, and it’s getting harder and harder to disagree with the guy. He dominated a game Brian Stann despite being away from the octagon for over a year, and he made it look easy. Dana White has admitted it would be foolish not to book this rematch, and for once we’re in agreement with “The Baldfather.” Some people are arguing for a Dan Henderson rematch, given he gets past Shogun, but considering that fight is being held at light heavyweight, we don’t really see why the winner would necessarily deserve it over Sonnen, especially since Shogun clearly has no middleweight aspirations. Book it Dana…book it and they will come.
Joe Lauzon: It took “J-Lau” less than a minute to end Melvin Guillard’s hopes of getting the next lightweight title shot and remind us of why he is one of the most dangerous guys in the division. Though his cardio has long been questionable, there’s no doubting the kid’s killer instinct, and it would be nice to see him put together a nice win streak for once. Giving him a crack at the winner of Siver/Cerrone or Dos Anjos/Tibau would really help thin the herd of potential contenders, and that is one thing the lightweight division could use. Another option, and perhaps the one with the biggest potential for fireworks, would be Nate Diaz. This is of course based on the assumption that Nate Diaz decides to hang out at lightweight for a while, and who knows with that guy.
Demian Maia: Maia’s victory over Jorge Santiago was about as typical as could be expected. It showcased his well known ability to control a fighter on the ground while highlighting the fact that his stand up still has a ways to go. Matching him up against someone like Alan Belcher would really let us know where exactly he stands in the middleweight division, but the grappling fanatic in me would really like to see how he’d fare against someone like Rousimar Palhares, who’s striking is quickly becoming as tenacious as his ground game.
Anthony Pettis: After being wrestlefucked by Clay Guida in his UFC debut, the final WEC lightweight champion seemed eager to prove that he is constantly improving upon his weaknesses with a takedown oriented victory over Jeremy Stephens. A fight against someone equally well rounded, like Jim Miller, would be a nice measuring stick for Pettis, as would a match against the resurgent Sam Stout. Or if we really wanted to see how far his wrestling is coming, we could wake Gray Maynard up and throw him in “Showtime’s” direction.
Oh, and can someone throw Jorge Santiago a fricken bone? The poor guy has had about the worst run of luck in the UFC that I can remember, and I’d really just love to see him pull off one of these again.
We’ll let you decide the loser’s fates in the comment section…choose wisely.
I feel like I’ve been here before. Such was my line of thought during the first round of Saturday night’s main event in Houston, where Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard contested the lightweight title for the second time in 2011. I had this th…
I feel like I’ve been here before.
Such was my line of thought during the first round of Saturday night’s main event in Houston, where Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard contested the lightweight title for the second time in 2011.
I had this thought because Maynard had just clubbed the champion with a thundering punch, and was following up with more punishment, as Edgar stumbled about the cage like a one-legged man rollerskating on marbles.
And in response to the beating, just as he had earlier this year, Edgar stabilized, fired back, and survived.
Then he went on and took the better part of three rounds from Maynard before stopping him violently in the fourth.
When that stoppage happened, I had another pause for thought:
Did a lesson from January actually cost Gray the title tonight?
You see, the argument in rematches is that you learn your opponent’s tendencies, study tape on him and adjust yourself. You realize where you went wrong as well, and fine-tune your game plan to improve your chances of success.
Going into the rematch with Edgar, there was a lot of talk about Gray gassing himself out trying to finish in the first round of their last fight.
That round, argued by many to be the most one-sided in MMA history for a man to actually survive, saw Maynard slug Edgar to a living death while expending tremendous energy himself.
This time, with Frankie teetering about the cage, Gray elected to play it cool and pick his spots. Unfortunately, he ran out of time in the round, and didn’t come close to doing the fullest amount of damage possible. Over the next few rounds, Edgar rebounded, and Gray still looked too slow—as he did last time.
The end result was two first rounds that were overwhelmingly in favour of Gray Maynard, both approached slightly differently, but both in title fights that saw Gray’s opponent walk away with the gold.
One has to wonder if Maynard’s evolution, his learning from pushing too hard the last time and trying to adjust, may have cost him the title.
What if he put it on Frankie like he did last time? Would he have gotten the finish? Would he be champion today?
There’s no way to know, but you can rest assured that such thoughts will fill Gray Maynard’s head while he tries to climb the lightweight ladder once again. And woe be unto the next guy that he has in trouble, because you can expect him to finish with a fury the likes of which few men can withstand.
After this past Saturday’s 
Just in case