Getty Joe Rogan & Frankie Edgar
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is planning to retire after one more trip to the Octagon and he wants to be paired up with Dominick Cruz. Well, the ex-bantamweight king is down as well.
Edgar (24-10-1) told ESPN in a recent interview that November at the presumed Madison Square Garden event in New York City would be the perfect send-off for him. At 40 years old, “The Answer” is 1-4 in his last five bouts, including back-to-back knockout losses to top-ranked 135-pound fighters Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen.
“I’ve been kicking the idea of retirement around since my last fight,” Edgar said to the outlet. “The last two fights obviously didn’t go the way I wanted them to. If I’m being honest, I would fight forever — but that’s kind of selfish to my family and the people that care about me.
“I need to announce my retirement so I can have a retirement fight and sail off into the sunset.”
Edgar & Cruz Were Champions at the Same Time, The Answer Called It a ‘Legacy Fight’
And for Edgar, fighting Cruz at MSG is the perfect fit for his final walk to the cage. Between 2010 and 2012, Edgar and Cruz held their respective UFC belts simultaneously. Fast forward a decade later and The Answer has competed at bantamweight three times, going 1-2.
Fans and pundits have linked Edgar and Cruz to a potential scrap for years, and considering Edgar has competed against several other legends from his generation, including Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber, the bout makes sense from a legacy standpoint.
“I’m never one to call out or pick anybody, I usually let the UFC or [manager Ali Abdelaziz] figure that out,” Edgar continued. “But I’ll say a name, just because I think it’s more of a legacy fight. I know he has a fight coming up and who knows how that could go down, but Dominick Cruz — he was a champion at 135 [pounds] when I was champion at 155.
“We were both pretty much the top of the division. That could be a fun fight.”
Cruz ‘Wouldn’t Say No’ to Fighting Edgar
Cruz is scheduled to fight Vera on August 13 as the headlining act for the promotion’s return to San Diego, California. “The Dominator” is focused on getting past “Chito” on his way to competing for UFC gold, but he “wouldn’t say no” to making a pit stop to battle his fellow future Hall of Famer.
“You know, I wouldn’t say no to Frank Edgar. He’s a legend in the sport. That guy, he’s done a lot and you know just thinking about it, he’s done so much. You got these new up-and-comers that people don’t know him real well,” Cruz told The Schmo in a recent interview (h/t MMA News). “He just wants to fight somebody that’s known that can get people to watch and I’ve been around for a long time.
“He’s been around for a long time. So, I know where it comes from me and Frankie have always been cool. So I got no beef with him.”
“The Dominator” (24-3) is riding a two-fight win streak, beating both Pedro Munhoz and Casey Kenney via decision, and is currently ranked No. 8 in the bantamweight division. Edgar sits at No. 12.