Frankie Edgar Reacts To UFC 218 Withdrawal
The UFC’s next PPV (pay-per-view) event has taken a major hit by losing its main event.
The big news on Wednesday was the withdrawal of former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar from his upcoming UFC featherweight title bout against current champion Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 218.
Edgar has since taken to his official Instagram account to comment on pulling out of the fight after he suffered a facial injury that will require surgery in training.
Combate first reported that UFC featherweight contender was injured. Several other outlets confirmed the report. The UFC has not yet commented on the news.
According to Edgar, the injury is only a minor setback and that he will be back to full-contract training in six weeks. Make no mistake about it, he still has his sights set on Halloway.
According to a report by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, Holloway will likely remain on the UFC 218 fight card. However, as of this writing, there’s no word yet on who will take Edgar’s place and challenge “Blessed” for the 145-pound title.
A few names have emerged as potential challengers such as Cub Swanson, who is a longtime challenger and has fought Holloway before, as he was quick to offer his services when he heard Edgar was out.
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Holloway won the title with a second-round stoppage over Jose Aldo in the UFC 212 main event in Brazil this past summer, which extended his 11-fight winning streak.
On the flip side, Edgar is on a two-fight winning streak and coming off a win to rising star Yair Rodriguez by TKO on the UFC 211 main card.
UFC 218 is set to take place on on Saturday, December 2, 2017, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. 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 and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6:15 p.m. ET.
Francis Ngannou vs. Alistair Overeem in a heavyweight bout will serve as the co-main event.
