Tag: UFC 222

Frankie Edgar Will Only Wait For Max Holloway ‘If It’s Fairly Quick’

Frankie Edgar has had a bit of tough luck as of late. The former UFC lightweight champion was scheduled to take on 145-pound titleholder Max Holloway this past December at UFC 218, but he was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering an injury. Then, the bout was rescheduled for March 3’s UFC 222 […]

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Frankie Edgar has had a bit of tough luck as of late.

The former UFC lightweight champion was scheduled to take on 145-pound titleholder Max Holloway this past December at UFC 218, but he was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering an injury. Then, the bout was rescheduled for March 3’s UFC 222 in Las Vegas, but this time, Holloway suffered an injury, once again causing the bout to be scrapped.

Now, Edgar will take on rising contender Brian Ortega on the card, and he said the decision to accept the fight was simply based off of the fact that he simply needed to fight and get paid:

“I just want to fight,” Edgar told FloCombat. “I got so close to the December fight and got hurt and preparing, I just didn’t want to waste another camp. I felt like in December I pretty much wasted eight weeks of training to get hurt. Here we are four weeks away from this fight, and I didn’t want to waste another six weeks of training and not being able to fight. I’ve got to get paid. I only get paid when I’m in there and if I’m not fighting, I’m not making money.”

“It’s too long. I am 36 years old,” Edgar continued. “I’ll never get these months and days back, so I’ve got to make the best of them when I can.”

And although he has a tough test in front of him in the red hot Ortega, Edgar’s goals remain fixed on the title. In fact, he said that he’d like to fight Ortega in March and then take on Holloway in June.

And if the champion isn’t ready, “The Answer” may just take another fight:

“I want to go out there and fight March 3 and if Max is ready to go fairly quick, then yeah I’ll probably wait for Max,” Edgar said. “But if he’s still maybe not ready until the end of summer, I might jump in there again. I want to fight. This is what I want to do. The belt, it is a goal of mine, I don’t want to say I’ve lost sight of that but I’ve been waiting around and two times so close didn’t come. I just want to fight.”

“March 3— fight — if Max is ready to go in June that would be perfect. If he’s still not ready to go, I might jump in there again. Who knows.”

Do you expect Edgar to get by the rising “T-City” at UFC 222?

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Bobby Green Out, Beneil Dariush Awaits New Opponent for UFC 222

UFC 222 has taken another hit. Fresh off a remade main card that included a new main event and co-main event, now the preliminary card is undergoing a change as lightweight competitor Bobby Green has been forced out of his scheduled bout against Beneil…

UFC 222 has taken another hit. Fresh off a remade main card that included a new main event and co-main event, now the preliminary card is undergoing a change as lightweight competitor Bobby Green has been forced out of his scheduled bout against Beneil Dariush at UFC 22 on March 3 in Las Vegas. Sources […]

Frankie Edgar Opens Up On Accepting Fight Against Brian Ortega At UFC 222

The last week or so has been a wild time for Frankie Edgar. UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced to pull out of his next title defense against the former UFC lightweight champion at UFC 222 due to injury. As a result of this fight being scrapped, the UFC had to make some changes […]

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The last week or so has been a wild time for Frankie Edgar.

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced to pull out of his next title defense against the former UFC lightweight champion at UFC 222 due to injury.

As a result of this fight being scrapped, the UFC had to make some changes to that fight card.

With Edgar not wanting to sit around until Holloway is healthy enough to fight again, the former champ decided to fight in the mean time as he is slated to battle fellow top contender Brian Ortega at the upcoming pay-per-view event in the co-main event.

Some fight fans questioned Edgar’s decision to accept this fight, which is against a dangerous fighter.

Thus, he decided to speak with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour to explain why he thought it was a good idea to accept this fight contact.

“I was pissed, man,” Edgar admitted to host Ariel Helwani. “Obviously we were supposed to get down in December and I got injured, and now here we go, he gets injured, so it’s just unfortunate. It’s the way things go. I was bummed for a little bit, a little bit depressed, but you know, I got over it, man. I just wanted to stay on the card. I’m itching to fight, it’s been too long, so here we are. Now we’ve got to fight Ortega.”

“Man, I haven’t fought since May. I just didn’t want to wait,” Edgar said. “Time’s ticking and I want to get in there. Last time I got (hurt), I think, three weeks before the fight, so I have a bunch of camps under myself and no fight to show for it, so I just want to go in there and put my skills to use. I only get paid if I fight, so I definitely want to get in there.

“I’m glad it was Ortega, because it makes the most sense,” Edgar added. “He’s No. 3, right under me, and that actually makes the most sense for the division. But yeah, at that point, man, I was just wanting to make sure I had someone to fight.”

UFC 222 is set to take place on March 3, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET.

“He’s game. He’s about as game as it gets,” Edgar said of Ortega. “He’s not scared to sit there and throw with the best of them. He’s got a very slick guard, dangerous jiu-jitsu game. So he’s a dangerous opponent and I’ve got to give him credit to jump on this fight on short notice. But I think he got a new contract, he could take my spot, so he has a lot of things on the table that could get going for him too.

“Holloway’s no joke either on his back and with his submission game, and their body types are very similar, so it wasn’t too much of a change,” Edgar added. “And I’ve got (coaches) Ricardo Almeida and Mark Henry in my corner always adjusting things as we go, so I know I’m confident in my preparation and what these guys have been working on.”

“I take pride that I win when people don’t think I’m gonna,” Edgar said. “I don’t think like, ‘Oh, I’m going to ruin this guy’s plans,’ or anything like that. I just want to make sure my plans stay intact, and that’s what I do: Go out there and just try to win fights. I don’t care if I’m fighting a guy that I’m supposed to beat, not supposed to beat, younger, older. The objective is still the same, I want to go in there and win.”

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New UFC 222 Poster Is Out – Is It Better Than The First?

Earlier this week, March 3’s UFC 222 from Las Vegas got a late-notice main event when news came that women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg would be meeting Invicta FC bantamweight champ Yana Kunitskaya. Back when the event was scheduled to be headlined by an anticipated featherweight title clash between champion Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar, […]

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Earlier this week, March 3’s UFC 222 from Las Vegas got a late-notice main event when news came that women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg would be meeting Invicta FC bantamweight champ Yana Kunitskaya.

Back when the event was scheduled to be headlined by an anticipated featherweight title clash between champion Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar, the promotion drew a large amount of criticism for the original poster online for what was viewed as having a very weak fight between heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Stefan Struve as the co-main event.

Well, they released an all-new, revamped poster today, and it’s safe to say it does look at least a little bit better now that Edgar moved into the co-headliner versus surging young contender Brian Ortega. Check it out right here:

With Cyborg a justifiable -1000 betting favorite heading into her bout with Kunitskaya, who will make her UFC debut, the general opinion is that she’s going to run through the Invicta bantamweight champ like she’s run through the rest of her opponents.

That’s really all there is in the UFC’s women’s featherweight division right now, however, so in that sense, it’s business as usual.

But the co-main between Edgar and Ortega is a great fight, one where Edgar is taking all of the risk in fighting a highly dangerous opponent to essentially save his spot as the No. 1 contender. That itself has made the new UFC 222 poster much better than the first.

Is it enough to get you to pay for the card?

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UFC 222 Poster, Latest Fight Card For Mar. 3

The official event poster has been released for UFC 222: Cyborg vs. Kunitskaya, which takes place Saturday night, March 3rd from Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena. Check out our UFC 222 News Page, the latest fight card and poster below: Main Card (Pay-Pe…

The official event poster has been released for UFC 222: Cyborg vs. Kunitskaya, which takes place Saturday night, March 3rd from Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena. Check out our UFC 222 News Page, the latest fight card and poster below: Main Card (Pay-Per-View) Cris Cyborg (c) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (Women’s Featherweight) Frankie Edgar vs. […]

Shocker: Cyborg Massive Favorite Heading Into UFC 222

To the surprise of no one, Cris Cyborg has opened up as a massive betting favorite against Yana Kunitskaya for their UFC 222 title fight. Kunitskaya is taking on the UFC women’s featherweight champion in a late-replacement bout in the main event of March 3’s UFC 222 after original headliner Max Holloway was forced out of his […]

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To the surprise of no one, Cris Cyborg has opened up as a massive betting favorite against Yana Kunitskaya for their UFC 222 title fight.

Kunitskaya is taking on the UFC women’s featherweight champion in a late-replacement bout in the main event of March 3’s UFC 222 after original headliner Max Holloway was forced out of his featherweight title defense versus Frankie Edgar. Cyborg had previously been linked to a much-discussed superfight with UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at July’s anticipated UFC 226.

Before then, Cyborg will defend her featherweight belt against the relative unknown Kunitskaya and opened as a -1000 betting favorite compared to a +600 Kunitskaya. That means the challenger is a six-to-one underdog while at 10 to 1, the champion has the full and unbridled confidence from the bookmakers.

Kunitskaya is a 28-year-old Russian who will be making her UFC debut against Cyborg, an admittedly tall order.

Elsewhere, former WWE superstar-turned-fighter CM Punk will be a +200 under to Mike Jackson, himself an MMA journalist who moonlights as a fighter for up-and-comers. He was Mickey Gall’s first UFC opponent in his Octagon debut and will serve as a suitable dance partner for the woefully inexperienced Punk at the June card from Chicago.

It seems that Cyborg will make a quick title defense before the rumored superfight with Nunes this summer, assuming she gets past this UFC newcomer.

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