No one can question the toughness of Frankie Edgar.
Frankie Edgar already had a title shot secured when Max Holloway pulled out of UFC 222’s main event. When that pesky foot injury destroyed the match-up, he could have waited for it to be rescheduled. However, after taking 10 months between fights, he wanted to get paid.
When Brian Ortega offered to step up, Edgar accepted. Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t pay off for ‘The Answer’.
“T-City” emerged from the fight as the definitive number-one featherweight contender after handing Edgar his first ever loss via finish. A short elbow did the damage, several more hard shots compounded it and a thunderous uppercut lifted Edgar off the ground and ended it.
IT IS ALL OVER! 😱
Brian Ortega becomes the first UFC fighter to finish Frankie Edgar!
That uppercut 💥💥💥
📺 BT Sport 2 HD pic.twitter.com/pIvQN2Bzy7
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) March 4, 2018
No rest for the wicked
Remarkably, the UFC are trying to get Edgar to have a quick turnaround. The promotion are heading to his home state of New Jersey at the end of March and they want the Toms River man to play a starring role.
The news was first reported by ESPN.com that a rematch between Edgar and number-four ranked 145lber Cub Swanson was in the works for the card. MMAjunkie have since reported that bout agreements for the matchup have been sent to both fighters.
Swanson and Edgar first met in the UFC Fight Night 57 main event in Texas over three years ago. With just four seconds left in the five-rounder, Edgar forced the tap with a neck crank submission.
Interestingly, both fighters are coming off losses to Ortega. Swanson was submitted by ‘T-City’ via second-round guillotine choke in their Fresno main event in December.
