Frankie Edgar will proceed with his fighting career after his brutal knockout loss to Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night 184.
Edgar (24-9-1 MMA, 18-9-1 UFC), a former UFC lightweight champion, was put out in highlight-reel fashion courtesy of Sandhagen’s (14-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) flying knee just 28 seconds into their co-main event bout on Feb. 6 in Las Vegas. It was a loss unlike any other in Edgar’s career, and it forced many fans and pundits to speculate on what the future holds for “The Answer.”
The outcome was perhaps a final critical blow to Edgar’s hope of winning another UFC title. He has 28 octagon appearances, holds the record for most fight time in company history at just shy of eight hours, and has been stopped three times in the past three years after suffering no stoppage losses in his first 13 years as a professional.
Still, though, Edgar’s commitment to the fight game is not wavering, and he said his inner circle doesn’t agree with the narrative he should stop.
“I know if (my wife was) worried, like 100 percent worried about me, she would say it,” Edgar told ESPN on Thursday. “But (coach) Mark (Henry) knows. I don’t care if it was my first loss or my last loss, I’m always thinking, ‘Losing sucks.’ I hate it. Everybody hates it. You don’t want to do anything after. You have thoughts like, ‘Man, I don’t want to do this.’ And Mark’s like, ‘Dude, what are you talking about? One fight back. One fight you win, and that erases that loss.’ So, I’m not thinking of stopping anytime – at least now. Not after this one.”
Edgar said his resolve to push ahead stems from the fact he still feels very competitive inside the octagon. Sandhagen gave him a gruesome loss, but many consider him to be the No. 1 contender to the title, so that must mean Edgar’s still near the top.
“I’m disappointed,” Edgar said. “It is what it is. This is an unforgiving sport. It sucks, man. I’m going to be on this guy’s highlight reel forever, and that’s just going to play forever. But it is what it is. It could’ve easily been him on the other end. And I’ve been on the other end of those, as well.”
Edgar didn’t rule out making a return to action by summer, and said it’s his top priority to get the bad taste of his mouth from Sandhagen and reevaluate from there. He said he’s not picky about any specific matchups, he just wants to compete.
Ultimately, though, Edgar said he’s not ignorant to the reality that one day his fight career will come to a close. He doesn’t know what will be the catalyst to making a final retirement decision, but Edgar is confident that the timing will be right.
“I won’t be this guy that’s just constantly getting KO’d,” Edgar said. “I’m going to have to look myself in the mirror and figure something out if this keeps happening. I just don’t think the time is now. … I don’t know when it’ll happen. It’s just going to have to happen one day. It may be me, it may be my coaches (telling me to do it). I’m hoping it’s me first. I don’t want to be the guy where someone needs to tell me that I need to walk away. But it may take that. I don’t know. The type of person I am, it may take my coach or my wife to be like, ‘Yo, it’s time to walk away.’ I just know that time’s not now. And they know that time’s not now as well.”
Frankie Edgar won’t retire after brutal KO loss: ‘I’m not thinking of stopping’
