A rising star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division, Frankie “the Answer” Edgar is set to explode even deeper into the divisions ranks as the year goes on. A wrestling standout from Clarion University of Pennsylvania where he earned All-American honors in 2004, he is quickly earning a reputation for his fast-paced bouts and technical boxing which, when combined with his wrestling pedigree and underrated Jiu-jitsu makes Edgar prospect to keep an eye on.
But Edgar’s greatest strength is his tenacity. Surviving a painfully deep knee-bar in his bout with Tyson Griffin, and shown again in his recent bout with Hermes Franca. In round one of their match up this past Saturday (7-19-08),
Edgar’s professional record of nine wins holds three very notable victories. He holds a decision win over Spencer “the King” Fisher, a dynamic striker in the LW division who has at multiple times been considered near title contention. A win over Tyson Griffin could arguably be called his biggest win. Tyson is undefeated with the exception of his loss to Edgar, and could perhaps see himself next in line for title contention after the winner of Huerta v Florian at UFC 87. Finally this past Saturday Frankie defeated Hermes Franca, a former UFC LW contender who challenged Sean Sherk at UFC 73.
With 6 other wins, The Answer only has one blemish on his otherwise remarkable record. At UFC Fight Night 13, Gray “The Bully” Maynard was able to outwrestle Edgar for a decision win. Maynard seemingly outmuscled Frankie, with a couple of big slams in an otherwise technical wrestling match held in the octagon. This loss pointed at out the one weakness some critics label Edgar with: He’s too small for lightweight.
One could argue that Grey Maynard was simply a bad match up. A large lightweight with similar wrestling credentials, The Bully simply just out muscled Frankie. And looking at some his other fights, size hasn’t been an issue. Except that the UFC lightweight division does contain large fighters, with Sean Sherk a prime example.Sherk is a fantastic wrestler who uses his wrestling and strength to control opponents in similar fashion as Maynard and Edgar.
In my opinion it’s still too early in Frankie’s career at 155lbs too consider a drop to featherweight. With only one loss so far on his record, and wins over some top LW fighters, Edgar himself is knocking on the door of the upper echelon of LW fighters in the UFC. While only Edgar himself can answer the question of whether or not he needs to pack on more size in order to stay competitive, one thing is for sure. Keep an eye on “the Answer” for his response will be shown in the octagon the next time he enters the cage.
