Frankie Edgar Looking To ‘Erase’ UFC 222 Loss Against Cub Swanson
Frankie Edgar isn’t wasting any time returning to the Octagon after suffering the first stoppage loss of his lengthy career.
The former lightweight champion, who was brutally finished by Brian Ortega at UFC 222 earlier this month, will take on Cub Swanson in a rematch on April 21, 2018 in Atlantic City, and he’s ‘excited’ to hopefully ‘erase’ a bit of the negativity surrounding his last performance:
“I’m excited to get in there,” Edgar said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I know I’m getting flack from people and you guys, obviously on whether I’m taking this fight too soon or not, and that’s fine. I [expected] it and I know what I’m putting on the line here, and I feel comfortable doing it, so I’m ready to go prove people wrong here.
“I’m the one in there. I’m the one putting it on the line, and there’s nothing like getting in there and getting a win to erase that last loss. And again, it’ll never erase it, but at least it’ll kinda help deal with that stink, and like you said, give me something positive to kinda focus on instead of focusing on the negative.”
Given how vicious the loss to Ortega was, the turnaround is certainly a quick one for Edgar, but he explained that the loss wasn’t actually as bad as it looked:
“I was pretty with it,” Edgar said. “I recall the knockout because I didn’t get turned off or anything. Even when I was going down, I knew I had a short time. In my head I was saying, ‘Alright, short time, short time. Let’s try to get through this.’ But obviously he was able to capitalize on it with that uppercut. And even when I fell, as soon as the ref came over me, I said I was good, and maybe I wasn’t — I’m not really complaining about the stoppage, I can see why he stopped it — but I was with it. As soon as he stopped it, I said, ‘I’m good! I’m good!’ I was trying to argue. Obviously I needed a little help [to stand up], but I wasn’t all the way out. I didn’t even have a headache afterwards that night at the hotel or anything.”
And as far as how the rematch came about, Edgar says that while he always listens to the insight from his camp, the decision was essentially his:
“I always listen to what my coaches say, and (my manager) Ali (Abdel-Aziz) and my wife and my teammate, my friends. I kinda hear everybody out, but ultimately it’s definitely my decision,” Edgar said. “As long as I have their support — if they said don’t take this fight, I still probably would’ve taken it, but it’s good to have their support and I felt I had that.”
Do you expect Edgar to bounce back next month in his home state?
