Frankie Edgar aims to prove he's still a top dog

Frankie Edgar started fighting in 2005, and a year later beat Jim Miller for the Reality Fighting lightweight championship, pushing his record to 6-0. He then signed with the UFC and decisioned Tyson Griffin in his league debut, winning Fight of the Night. Seven fights and two more Fight of the Nights later, he beat B.J. Penn for the lightweight championship.

Edgar defended successfully in the immediate rematch, and then retained his title in a Fight of the Night winning Split Draw vs. Gray Maynard, the only UFC fighter who had beaten him to date. In the immediate rematch, he won the Maynard trilogy emphatically, with a Knockout of the Night.

In 2012 Edgar lost his belt via Unanimous Decision to Benson Henderson, earning his fifth Fight of the Night, and failed to regain the belt in the immediate rematch, losing via Split Decision.

Edgar, who barely cut to reach 155, then dropped to featherweight, and challenged Jose Aldo for the belt, losing a Unanimous Decision, but winning his sixth Fight of the Night. Edgar stayed at featherweight, with great distinction. He went 7-1 the next eight fights, earning three more performance bonuses, and losing only to Jose Aldo in an interim title fight.

However, since 2018, Edgar has gone 1-3, decisioning Cub Swanson, losing a decision to Max Holloway for the featherweight belt, and getting T/KO’d in Round 1 by Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung. After the loss to “The Korean Zombie” Edgar determined to drop to bantamweight, and makes his division debut in the main event of UFC on ESPN 15 on Saturday night.

Edgar is 38, and has been thrilling fans for 15 years. During the virtual media day, Edgar addressed fans who believe he’s past his prime in an evolving sport.

I know a lot of people are questioning where I’m at in my career, said Edgar. I’m a little bit older. I’m coming down a weight class. People are questioning my abilities here. I want to go out there, more so to prove to anybody else, but to prove to myself that I’m still a top dog in whatever weight class I fight in.

Edgar and Munhoz were supposed to fight at UFC on ESPN+ 30 on July 19, but Munhoz tested positive for COVID-19 right before leaving for Fight Island. Rather than take a new opponent, Edgar waited.

I’ve taken some notice fights, short opponent changes, it didn’t always work out the way I wanted it to. I learned from some past mistakes, I guess you could say, and I said let’s just wait. We got rebooked a month later, it’s really not that big of a deal. I just feel like I had more time to prepare. More time to feel like I could make this weight and it all worked out.

Pedro’s been a stud in this weight class for a while. He’s got some big wins over some very good guys. A win will put me in the direction I want to be. It will put me in a position I want to be.

I’ve been fighting the best guys since day one of my UFC career. I don’t want that to change. Pedro was the guy that made the most sense to me.

I’ve just got to worry about winning my fight Saturday,. Winning has a way of taking care of things. If I go do that, anything’s possible. What I’ve done in my career, I’m always knocking on the door, I’ve always had opportunities presented to me. If it does come up, of course, I jump at it.