Coach Discusses Possible Bantamweight Move For Frankie Edgar
Frankie Edgar suffered an emotional defeat to Max Holloway over the weekend (Sat. July 27, 2019) at UFC 240.
“The Answer” was outclassed by the Hawaiian after five rounds, with “Blessed’s” featherweight title on the line. After failing for the third time to capture 145-pound gold, there has been a lot of talk about Edgar possibly cutting down to bantamweight to try a championship run there.
Edgar’s coach, Ricardo Almeida, was asked about such a move during an interview with MMA Fighting. Almeida sounded open to the idea, as such a move would present Edgar with some very interesting matchups.
“We’ve been talking about this for a while, telling him to move down to 135 pounds, but he never really wanted it, he was never really interested,” Almeida said. “What Frankie wants is to be the best in the world. Frankie wants to win this second belt.
“And if he sees a path to get to that belt in that weight class, I’m sure he would really consider it. And I think he’d probably have that path. It doesn’t make sense for him to go down just for a fight, but if it’s for a title run and become champion again, I think everyone wants to see that.
“It would be incredible to see him fighting (Henry) Cejudo, (T.J.) Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz, all those beasts in that weight class — except for Marlon (Moraes) [laughs].”
Currently, bantamweight is ruled by double champ Henry Cejudo. “The King Of Cringe” has actually expressed interest in competing against Edgar before. Had Edgar emerged victorious against Holloway, Cejudo wanted to jump up to challenge “The Answer” for the featherweight title. It will be interesting to see if the matchup still interests Cejudo at 135 pounds.
Do you think Edgar should drop down to 135 pounds after his loss to Holloway?
