Frankie Edgar wants to be next.
After Diego Sanchez and BJ Penn fight for the UFC lightweight championship. Edgar wants to fight the winner.
At the Ultimate Fighter Season 10 finale, Edgar disposed of Matt Veach in the second round with a rear-naked choke. Shortly after the fight, Edgar talked about the future.
“I want to fight for the title,” Edgar said. “That’s my goal. I feel like I’m close. I know it’s a stacked division, but that’s what I want to do. I want to fight for the title.”
But can Edgar compete with the very top of the division?
Standing 5’6”, Edgar is much shorter than both of the men competing for the lightweight title. Diego Sanchez is 5’10”, and BJ Penn stands 5’9”. In an age where most fighters are cutting enormous weight, Edgar is almost a natural lightweight.
When Sanchez was asked about Edgar’s fight with Veach, he did not offer any analysis of the result.
“He looked like a small 155’er out there,” Sanchez said.
For his part, Penn was a little more politically correct, but he did not sound too excited at the prospect of a fight with the Tom’s River, NJ native.
“If he’s the number one contender, I’ll fight him,” Penn said.
The other option Edgar has is to drop down to the featherweight limit of 145 lbs. Based on his success at lightweight, Edgar would likely be very close to challenging new champion Jose Aldo for the title.
That is not in his immediate plans.
“Not right now,” Edgar said when asked about the featherweight division. “Not with being 6-1 in the UFC and so close to the title shot. I’m fighting big lightweights, and I seem to be doing pretty well.”
Regardless of his size, Edgar has achieved a great deal of success in the UFC. His 6-1 record includes wins over Tyson Griffin, Spencer Fisher, Hermes Franca, and Sean Sherk.
His lone loss came at the hands of another top lightweight contender, Gray Maynard.
Maynard appears to be next in line to challenge for the lightweight championship. Before that could happen, Maynard will have to defeat Nate Diaz on Jan. 11, 2010. That fact is not lost on Edgar.
“I’ll be rooting for Nate Diaz,” Edgar said. “Go Nate.”
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