Frankie Edgar: A Lion in the Shadows
Frankie Edgar: A Lion in the Shadows
Frankie Edgar never stops moving.
In the gym, he pushes full-throttle until the buzzer sounds, then paces back and forth until it’s time to mash the gas pedal again. When his inner competitor takes over, it stays until the last drop of work is done.
Even he guides his Cadillac CTS-V through the shaded streets of his neighborhood, Edgar is in perpetual motion. His feet may be dedicated to the pedals below, but his hands can't seem to stay on the wheel. Although Edgar admittedly grew up a bit shy, his current form is nothing less than animated.
“I used to get in all kinds of fights as a kid,” Edgar says. “It was never anything too serious, but my cousins were all older, and that’s who I ran with. They would put me against some other kid from the neighborhood and we would just scrap it out. I started fighting young, man, and I found out I had an inner toughness a lot of people lacked. I just didn’t have a drop of quit in me, and I still don’t.”
When Edgar becomes the topic of conversation, it’s something he shrugs off and downplays. He's slow to talk about himself. But Edgar also understands what his performances inside the Octagon mean to those who admire him, because they are topics he’s addressed for years.
Later, when the day starts to wind down, Edgar is willing to take a step deeper into the battles he’s endured. The fight game is often rife with cliches about battle, but Edgar is one of the few who know how deep the trenches run.
Edgar’s bouts with Gray Maynard, Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo all required him to push beyond a barrier most of his peers could not or would not, but he insists there was nothing superhuman about those performances.
In fact, as Edgar sits in his living room and recalls those nights, he becomes starkly human.
“I’m not one to focus on the past because I have to keep moving forward,” Edgar says as he leans forward in his chair. “The wins and losses all bring lessons, and you have to acknowledge every part of it to adapt, adjust and improve. That’s the simple answer, but yeah man those fights were tough.
“That first round of the second fight with Gray [Maynard] all I felt was that fire to not let up. I got caught with a shot and it put everything on a tilt, but there was no way I was going to lay down and give it away. If you want to beat me you’re going to have to bring everything you have because I’m not going away. I’m in this damn thing until the final bell sounds, and I’m going to fight with everything I have to come out on top. You best believe it.”
His first meeting with Aldo was among the group of fights that forced Edgar to reach deep into his well of determination. The Brazilian phenom was in the midst of a legendary run when their paths first crossed during Edgar's debut in a new division.
Up to that point, Aldo looked damn near invincible, and his performance in the opening 10 minutes made it seem like that streak would continue. But Edgar had other plans, and took the pound-for-pound great to the wire in the next three rounds.
Though the end result didn't go his way, the fight ignited confidence within the former lightweight champion at a time when many assumed Edgar was on the decline. The loss to Aldo was his third consecutive setback inside the Octagon, but Edgar walked away knowing what needed to be done.
“People seem to forget my first fight with Aldo was also my first fight at 145,” Edgar says. “I drop down and I’m supposed to fight [Ricardo] Lamas, but then the fight opened up with Jose and I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.' I believe I’m the best in the world and here is the guy many are calling the best in the world so it was the perfect challenge for what I’m looking to prove.
“The judges saw things a different way, but I can tell you this, before me Aldo was crushing people. He was pulling off these crazy flying knee knockouts and looked untouchable. He didn’t do that to me, and it’s not going to happen this time around either. I’m a different fighter than I was in our first meeting and I think the same rings true for him.”
Although Edgar acknowledges his first meeting with Aldo at UFC 156 was quite a while ago and knows his opponent has made improvements, something tells him he's on a different trajectory. By buzz-sawing through his past five matches, Edgar looked far closer to 24 than 34.
He battered B.J. Penn, submitted Cub Swanson, outclassed Urijah Faber and snuffed Chad Mendes with a power he’s never quite shown before. Each of those opponents register on a world-class level, and Edgar made every one of them appear as if they didn’t belong inside the cage with him.
He emerged from the darkest stretch of his career to become the nastiest version of Frankie Edgar that ever existed.
“I hate losing to an extent most people would think I’m crazy, but the one thing I absolutely can’t stand is the feeling that I didn’t give my best,” Edgar says. “Coming off those three losses was tough because I knew I was in there til the very end giving it my all. I felt I won all three of them, and a lot of people agreed with me, but all the talk in the world doesn’t change the final decision. You have to live with it, and I’m the kind of guy that uses anger in a positive way.
“I use the anger to fuel me inside the gym. I’m going to improve. I’m going to get better because I can still feel those losses inside of me. I’m not going to sit around and be bitter and bitch and moan. I’m going to get my ass to work to make sure it never happens again, and it hasn’t. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make damn sure it never does.”
With those words, everything about Edgar as a fighter is laid out on the table. He’s a man whose will to win far exceeds his stature, and his abilities as a mixed martial artist have carved out what will surely be a tremendous legacy once his days as a competitor come to a close.
In Edgar’s mind, there are still titles to win and achievements to cross off, but he’s found as much peace as a professional fighter can.
He doesn’t care about Aldo coming off a devastating knockout loss in his last fight. Nor does he care to invest in the talk regarding how the Nova Uniao leader hasn’t been the same since that night in Las Vegas.
Aldo could be 10 feet tall and bulletproof at UFC 200, because it’s a lockdown guarantee Edgar is going to do everything his body and mind will allow to dismantle the former featherweight king.
Edgar knows what needs to be done on July 9, and once that emerges from the conversation, he stops moving for the first time in days. He sits back in his chair, and the slight smile that begins to appear becomes full-blown in a matter of seconds.
“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of disco fries,” he says with a laugh. “They are absolutely amazing and a must if you visit the Jersey shore. I can’t have you leaving here without checking them out.”
And just like that, the time with Edgar has come and gone, but the impression resonates. In many ways, he’s similar to the fighters he shares the UFC roster with, but there’s no one else quite like him.
He's just as much the everyman as those he inspires in his home state, yet so far beyond what most achieve. That’s all anyone who puts on the gloves can hope for, and in that regard, Edgar will be a champion long after the bright lights turn dark.
Edgar has made his place in a chaotic sport, and he’s far from finished. There are still mountains to climb, and blood and sweat to be spilled along the way. For a man more than a decade into his career, he’s still rising, and there is nothing more impressive than that.
Stay tuned for the official release of "Frankie Edgar: The Rising Pt. 1" later today on FloCombat.
In the gym, he pushes full-throttle until the buzzer sounds, then paces back and forth until it’s time to mash the gas pedal again. When his inner competitor takes over, it stays until the last drop of work is done.
Even he guides his Cadillac CTS-V through the shaded streets of his neighborhood, Edgar is in perpetual motion. His feet may be dedicated to the pedals below, but his hands can't seem to stay on the wheel. Although Edgar admittedly grew up a bit shy, his current form is nothing less than animated.
“I used to get in all kinds of fights as a kid,” Edgar says. “It was never anything too serious, but my cousins were all older, and that’s who I ran with. They would put me against some other kid from the neighborhood and we would just scrap it out. I started fighting young, man, and I found out I had an inner toughness a lot of people lacked. I just didn’t have a drop of quit in me, and I still don’t.”
When Edgar becomes the topic of conversation, it’s something he shrugs off and downplays. He's slow to talk about himself. But Edgar also understands what his performances inside the Octagon mean to those who admire him, because they are topics he’s addressed for years.
Later, when the day starts to wind down, Edgar is willing to take a step deeper into the battles he’s endured. The fight game is often rife with cliches about battle, but Edgar is one of the few who know how deep the trenches run.
Edgar’s bouts with Gray Maynard, Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo all required him to push beyond a barrier most of his peers could not or would not, but he insists there was nothing superhuman about those performances.
In fact, as Edgar sits in his living room and recalls those nights, he becomes starkly human.
“I’m not one to focus on the past because I have to keep moving forward,” Edgar says as he leans forward in his chair. “The wins and losses all bring lessons, and you have to acknowledge every part of it to adapt, adjust and improve. That’s the simple answer, but yeah man those fights were tough.
“That first round of the second fight with Gray [Maynard] all I felt was that fire to not let up. I got caught with a shot and it put everything on a tilt, but there was no way I was going to lay down and give it away. If you want to beat me you’re going to have to bring everything you have because I’m not going away. I’m in this damn thing until the final bell sounds, and I’m going to fight with everything I have to come out on top. You best believe it.”
His first meeting with Aldo was among the group of fights that forced Edgar to reach deep into his well of determination. The Brazilian phenom was in the midst of a legendary run when their paths first crossed during Edgar's debut in a new division.
Up to that point, Aldo looked damn near invincible, and his performance in the opening 10 minutes made it seem like that streak would continue. But Edgar had other plans, and took the pound-for-pound great to the wire in the next three rounds.
Though the end result didn't go his way, the fight ignited confidence within the former lightweight champion at a time when many assumed Edgar was on the decline. The loss to Aldo was his third consecutive setback inside the Octagon, but Edgar walked away knowing what needed to be done.
“People seem to forget my first fight with Aldo was also my first fight at 145,” Edgar says. “I drop down and I’m supposed to fight [Ricardo] Lamas, but then the fight opened up with Jose and I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.' I believe I’m the best in the world and here is the guy many are calling the best in the world so it was the perfect challenge for what I’m looking to prove.
“The judges saw things a different way, but I can tell you this, before me Aldo was crushing people. He was pulling off these crazy flying knee knockouts and looked untouchable. He didn’t do that to me, and it’s not going to happen this time around either. I’m a different fighter than I was in our first meeting and I think the same rings true for him.”
Although Edgar acknowledges his first meeting with Aldo at UFC 156 was quite a while ago and knows his opponent has made improvements, something tells him he's on a different trajectory. By buzz-sawing through his past five matches, Edgar looked far closer to 24 than 34.
He battered B.J. Penn, submitted Cub Swanson, outclassed Urijah Faber and snuffed Chad Mendes with a power he’s never quite shown before. Each of those opponents register on a world-class level, and Edgar made every one of them appear as if they didn’t belong inside the cage with him.
He emerged from the darkest stretch of his career to become the nastiest version of Frankie Edgar that ever existed.
“I hate losing to an extent most people would think I’m crazy, but the one thing I absolutely can’t stand is the feeling that I didn’t give my best,” Edgar says. “Coming off those three losses was tough because I knew I was in there til the very end giving it my all. I felt I won all three of them, and a lot of people agreed with me, but all the talk in the world doesn’t change the final decision. You have to live with it, and I’m the kind of guy that uses anger in a positive way.
“I use the anger to fuel me inside the gym. I’m going to improve. I’m going to get better because I can still feel those losses inside of me. I’m not going to sit around and be bitter and bitch and moan. I’m going to get my ass to work to make sure it never happens again, and it hasn’t. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make damn sure it never does.”
With those words, everything about Edgar as a fighter is laid out on the table. He’s a man whose will to win far exceeds his stature, and his abilities as a mixed martial artist have carved out what will surely be a tremendous legacy once his days as a competitor come to a close.
In Edgar’s mind, there are still titles to win and achievements to cross off, but he’s found as much peace as a professional fighter can.
He doesn’t care about Aldo coming off a devastating knockout loss in his last fight. Nor does he care to invest in the talk regarding how the Nova Uniao leader hasn’t been the same since that night in Las Vegas.
Aldo could be 10 feet tall and bulletproof at UFC 200, because it’s a lockdown guarantee Edgar is going to do everything his body and mind will allow to dismantle the former featherweight king.
Edgar knows what needs to be done on July 9, and once that emerges from the conversation, he stops moving for the first time in days. He sits back in his chair, and the slight smile that begins to appear becomes full-blown in a matter of seconds.
“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of disco fries,” he says with a laugh. “They are absolutely amazing and a must if you visit the Jersey shore. I can’t have you leaving here without checking them out.”
And just like that, the time with Edgar has come and gone, but the impression resonates. In many ways, he’s similar to the fighters he shares the UFC roster with, but there’s no one else quite like him.
He's just as much the everyman as those he inspires in his home state, yet so far beyond what most achieve. That’s all anyone who puts on the gloves can hope for, and in that regard, Edgar will be a champion long after the bright lights turn dark.
Edgar has made his place in a chaotic sport, and he’s far from finished. There are still mountains to climb, and blood and sweat to be spilled along the way. For a man more than a decade into his career, he’s still rising, and there is nothing more impressive than that.
Stay tuned for the official release of "Frankie Edgar: The Rising Pt. 1" later today on FloCombat.