People seriously looking past Frankie... Again?

[Double Black Belt]

I like Conor, he's exciting but Frankie has been fighting bigger guys his whole life and will most likely wreck Conor.

Like others said, I hope he is the betting underdog, paydays for the people who know what's up!

 

[deltapapha]

this is the one time when UFC needs to balance money with ethics and just ficking make it happen as soon as possible. If I am not mistaken Conor's health is in tact and they need to let him defend belt vs Edgar as soon as conceivably possible. Edgar fighter-wise is about to cross the age hump towards decline and it just makes me very very angry that he is being sidelined for no good reason whatsoever while he is still barely in his prime. I am usually pretty forgiving of the Dana machine but if he doesn't let Edgar fight Conor next, I'm going into full permanent hate mode.

 

[steliokontos]

Frankie is easily the most dangerous guy at Featherweight, I have thought since the Cub fight he takes the Aldo rematch pretty handily. The guys wrestling has evolved since the first Aldo fight and his top control has too.

Edgar will be able to eat Conors shots better than anyone at featherweight, his chin has been tested by some heavy handed guys and his heart is easily the most impressive in the organization. His ability to rally back against Maynard twice and Henderson in the first fight is unprecedented.

His boxing is sharp, mixing in body and head kicks with his boxing and then seamlessly transitioning into takedowns all while using his excellent footwork which is some of the most underrated in the UFC.

If Frankie doesnt get the next shot then McGregor is a fraud.

 

[JohnyBrabo]

Frankie is easily the most dangerous guy at Featherweight, I have thought since the Cub fight he takes the Aldo rematch pretty handily. The guys wrestling has evolved since the first Aldo fight and his top control has too.

Edgar will be able to eat Conors shots better than anyone at featherweight, his chin has been tested by some heavy handed guys and his heart is easily the most impressive in the organization. His ability to rally back against Maynard twice and Henderson in the first fight is unprecedented.

His boxing is sharp, mixing in body and head kicks with his boxing and then seamlessly transitioning into takedowns all while using his excellent footwork which is some of the most underrated in the UFC.

Excellent post and the bold is key. Frankie is a legit BJJ black belt now.

 

[Exemplar]

Dude you're definitely one of the better posters here but you have been on a roll since 196. Keep up the good work. King Nate bless.

Careful or you'll increase SA's ego beyond Conor levels, to Trump levels. We need SA somewhat grounded.

In the case of his opinion on McG and FE, I agree wholehearted.

 

[Substance Abuse]

I posted this in another thread, but we're always taking other fighters for granted, especially when they're on the down slope and past their prime. Gray Maynard deserves a bit of love. He never gets or really got any.

"I think the key to hurting Frankie is timing his lateral movement and cuts off of angles. It's tricky because you're not sure if it's leading to a level change for a takedown or to set up his striking, but if you can get his movement down and time him coming forward you'll crack him and it'll exacerbate the effect due to him coming forward.

That's the most underrated aspect of what Maynard did. He continually timed Frankie coming in to strike off of his angles and cracked him, leading to those rough first rounds for Edgar. Could Cloner do that? Definitely. I think it might be a bit more difficult if McGregor decided to be aggressive though because Edgar would probably employ his wrestling early on. It's a very intriguing fight."

 

[Mixedfights]

Frankie CAN win. I dont see it.

I dont think he can hold Conor down...I dont think he can eat the shots. Frankie is also like 34 or something.

I dont see it. I dont see Aldo winning either.

Honestly, the hardest fight for Conor at 145 is full camp Mendes...but he's on a skid now so.

 

[Big_Chief_Stove]

Just shocked by this. Even after losing pretty decisively to Nate Diaz, it seems there's a lot of people automatically assuming Frankie gets his arse kicked by Conor. While that is a very real possibility (I don't doubt for a second that Conor is a legitimate threat to anybody at 145) Frankie has fought the best of the best at both 145 and 155 and never been ko'd or submitted. On top of that, he's proven to be a real modern day Rocky, capable of taking a beating and rallying back to earn victory. He seems to be an eternal underdog, despite continuously proving the naysayers wrong. Putting aside Frankie's obviously superior resume, he's incredibly well rounded, possessing great footwork and boxing combined with a crafty takedown game and strong top control. I just can't believe that anybody would doubt that Frankie can win after everything he's done.

I don't know if Frankie is the same guy from 2010-11, he is getting older. That being said, dude deserves respect.

 

[steliokontos]

Excellent post and the bold is key. Frankie is a legit BJJ black belt now.

Definitely man, he is a Renzo black belt isn't he? The thing I have been most impressed with Frankie is his ability to inflict damage on his opponent while controlling them, and he doesn't get tired, he will exhaust guys just by the pressure he puts from top.

 

[JohnyBrabo]

Definitely man, he is a Renzo black belt isn't he? The thing I have been most impressed with Frankie is his ability to inflict damage on his opponent while controlling them, and he doesn't get tired, he will exhaust guys just by the pressure he puts from top.

Yeah bb under Renzo and he trains daily with Ricardo Almeida. Another renzo bb who's an excellent BJJ practitioner for MMA. His GNP is ferocious now and he has the best MMA wrestling since prime GSP IMO, Cruz is very close.

He absolutely brutalized Swanson on the mat and beat Penn into a living death in their third fight. Anytime a high level D1 wrestler like Frankie learns BJJ control and submissions look out. You have got a monster ground fighter on your hands.

 

[Genki Sudo II]

Those looking past him have only been watching MMA (Conor specifically and not much else) since 2014-2016.

This. Frankie is a potential legend - NO, legend. Please make the fight and lull these Cloner huggers to a false sense of security just to again see what MMA mastery is all about.

#TouchButtInTheParkEqualsPanicWrestlingInTheRing

 

[Genki Sudo II]

Frankie Edgar is one of my top 5 favorite fighters of all time. Several reasons but one of the biggest is he is what I call a Rodney Dangerfield of MMA. For all his accomplishments still no respect from the filthy casuals.

You could argue he is the greatest LW of all time as he defeated the greatest LW of all time twice in Penn, even though the first by close hard fought decision. Definitely one of the greatest p4p of all times. I feel he is the only man in UFC history who could be a 3 weight champion (155,145, and if he wanted 135). Never finished and all of his losses but 2 you could argue strongly he won.

Fe is the perfect example of not the size of the man in the fight, but the size of the fight in the man. He deserves far more respect for this because that is what epitomizes martial arts.

Don't worry. He's a legend in my book already.

 

[steliokontos]

Yeah bb under Renzo and he trains daily with Ricardo Almeida. Another renzo bb who's an excellent BJJ practitioner for MMA. His GNP is ferocious now and he has the best MMA wrestling since prime GSP IMO, Cruz is very close.

He absolutely brutalized Swanson on the mat and beat Penn into a living death in their third fight. Anytime a high level D1 wrestler like Frankie learns BJJ control and submissions look out. You have got a monster ground fighter on your hands.

Yeah man a monster is the perfect word, I would love for Frankie to take the title and defend it a few times then have Cruz challange him for a superfight before they retire.

 

[mikenason]

Frankie has NEVER lost decisively.

All his losses are split decisions where I felt that he won.

Sure, Frankie may have lost 2 rounds with Aldo, but he was never in danger or any trouble at all.

He beat BJ Penn while he was in his prime. He knocked out Chad Mendes when he had a full training camp. I would never bet against Frankie Edgar.

 

[Genki Sudo II]

I posted this in another thread, but we're always taking other fighters for granted, especially when they're on the down slope and past their prime. Gray Maynard deserves a bit of love. He never gets or really got any.

"I think the key to hurting Frankie is timing his lateral movement and cuts off of angles. It's tricky because you're not sure if it's leading to a level change for a takedown or to set up his striking, but if you can get his movement down and time him coming forward you'll crack him and it'll exacerbate the effect due to him coming forward.

That's the most underrated aspect of what Maynard did. He continually timed Frankie coming in to strike off of his angles and cracked him, leading to those rough first rounds for Edgar. Could Cloner do that? Definitely. I think it might be a bit more difficult if McGregor decided to be aggressive though because Edgar would probably employ his wrestling early on. It's a very intriguing fight."

He's constantly a moving target where Conor would just have to hope that Frankie would walk into his straight left/cross or uppercut - his only weapons. You're not going to catch him unless you perfectly counter him. Conor telegraphs a tad much (his kicks especially) and is measurably slower than Frankie. He'll be seeing double for sure.

 

[JohnyBrabo]

Yeah man a monster is the perfect word, I would love for Frankie to take the title and defend it a few times then have Cruz challange him for a superfight before they retire.

Always wanted Cruz vs Edgar. Easily one of my top 3 dream fights.

 

[JohnyBrabo]

Don't worry. He's a legend in my book already.

Well said

 

[bigpunch]

I don't know if Frankie is the same guy from 2010-11, he is getting older. That being said, dude deserves respect.

He is older but he's been looking better and better. There's always that left hand from Conor but Edgar has felt the power of LWs before and if he can take Aldo down I'm sure it's very likely that he can do the same to Conor

 

[Genki Sudo II]

Always wanted Cruz vs Edgar. Easily one of my top 3 dream fights.

I might feel bad for Cruz though cuz it won't be pretty for him.

 

[JohnyBrabo]

I don't know if Frankie is the same guy from 2010-11, he is getting older. That being said, dude deserves respect.

No he's not the same guy. He is better.