Frankie Edgar and retirement

[TapMachine]

I think there's a lot of fans who call for retirement once it becomes clear that said fighter will probably never get the belt, and that probably is the case with frankie. Personally I disagree with this notion. Not everybody can be champ. Even if frankie can't get another belt, I think he has 2-3 solid performances left in him and he can add some good top ten names on his already great resume while picking up a nice pay check.

Yeah, he's too old to be champ, but he can still earn good money by beating top competition. Not the absolute top, maybe, but top 10 for sure.

 

[Franklin U.]

Bottom line- he still fights competitive and is relevant ....and will continue to be ranked at 145. So asking a fighter like this in this case is a hard no. Flip side of coin, hes seen his last title shot and if he starts to take more damage while exchanging wins and losses- he'll then have to look in mirror and figure out how he wants to go out.
This guy was fighting at walk around weight or a few pounds above at 155- granted the talent ( as in most UFC classes) had not yet been facilitated into UFC/ 155. After Bendo won title , the worst thing happened- he probably should've walked out of arena with belt in re match......judges didnt score it his way ( maybe the only time I agreed with the edgar temper tantrum after decision). That was the point he shouldve went right down to 135 but how could he after that ?

He goes down to 145 and knew he wasnt beating Aldo while 155 was getting hella stacked, 145 just got introduced to McGregor vs Holloway [ mousasi v latifi] and 145 killers who were cutting plenty weight were on there way.

Hes 37 and who knows if wants to be in a position he couldve been awhile ago while younger - which now having to cut to make 135. He probably can do but is that what Frankie Edgar wants at this stage of career....... only way edgar fans can see him fighting for a title but like I said, hes been around and I dont know if that's the move he wants to make.

 

[snugglecakes]

Let him fight. Just stop giving him title shots and even main event spots. Heck stop putting him on the main card of PPVs even. He has been boring as fuck for years. Put him on the pre-prelims of ESPN cards

 

[West Linn]

This is the matchup he's wanted for ages, and he did nothing with it. It was a very regrettable performance. He clearly does not have what it takes to win another title, and if that's all he wants, he should probably call it quits. No reason to keep getting his head bashed in until he's 40.

 

[SteveColdStone]

One of Frankie’s advantages is speed and he built his game around being the smaller fighter. At 135, I don’t think the speed advantage would be there for him anymore and that could be a problem.

But if we actually look at the division, I think he matches up well with a lot of guys. And honestly, if I look at the fighters in the division, he might actually be faster than a lot of them, providing his weight cut goes well.

Cejudo
Moraes
Sterling
Assunção
Cruz
Munhoz
Cody
Yan
Rivera
Stamman
Sandhagen
Dodson
Font

I could see a healthy Frankie beating a lot of these guys. His window is going to be short though.

 

[RaZer Cruz]

Agreed. It's a shame that fighters like that kind of get a stigma though. He can still beat like 90 percent of the fighters in his division, but we always seem to focus more on on the shortcomings instead

The fact is that he is top 5 in FW of all time. He has been in the top 10 for his entire UFC career and most importantly he hit UFC gold. Anyone can argument as much as they want but if you hit gold you were at one point the best in the world.

 

[RaZer Cruz]

One of Frankie’s advantages is speed and he built his game around being the smaller fighter. At 135, I don’t think the speed advantage would be there for him anymore and that could be a problem.

But if we actually look at the division, I think he matches up well with a lot of guys. And honestly, if I look at the fighters in the division, he might actually be faster than a lot of them, providing his weight cut goes well.

Cejudo
Moraes
Sterling
Assunção
Cruz
Cody
Yan
Rivera
Dodson
Stamman
Sandhagen
Font
Munoz

I could see a healthy Frankie beating a lot of these guys. His window is going to be short though.

Actually you may be right. Josh Thompson mention on his podcast speed is the most important attribute and when you go down a weight class everyone is even faster. Being completely honest I don't think he's faster than these fighters shown below.

 

[PirateTetra]

I think there's a lot of fans who call for retirement once it becomes clear that said fighter will probably never get the belt, and that probably is the case with frankie. Personally I disagree with this notion. Not everybody can be champ. Even if frankie can't get another belt, I think he has 2-3 solid performances left in him and he can add some good top ten names on his already great resume while picking up a nice pay check.

Couldn't have said it any better

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

i think he should retire just out of concern for his quality of life
the guy has taken tons of damage over his career and has been consistently undersized against more powerful strikers

he will not win a belt at 155 again
he will not challenge for a belt at 145 again
frankie's style is one of speed and timing, but he has lost both of those with age and the guys at 135 are faster than him

so he won't have a speed/technique/size advantage at 135 - that doesn't mean he will lose every fight, but dropping down is not an automatic path to a second title

i'm not saying "win a belt or retire" but in frankie's case, what does he have left to prove? keep fighting if he needs the money, but stay home and be a family man

 

[SteveColdStone]

Actually you may be right. Josh Thompson mention on his podcast speed is the most important attribute and when you go down a weight class everyone is even faster. Being completely honest I don't think he's faster than these fighters shown below.
View attachment 622351

I think Cody and Moraes would definitely be faster, but he wouldn’t fight Moraes anyway. Cejudo would be faster too. I don’t think think he’s dropping to a division that’s full of faster guys though, and if they are faster it’s not by a crazy amount.

 

[Maaj19]

He was quick at LW then lost some of that at FW and would lose even more of it at BW. Cejudo would be in a different time zone in terms of speed. Besides Frankie's boy Marlon is at the top of the division

 

[Bogeyman]

He'll go beat up Clay Guida and immediately be given a title shot.