Frankie Edgar’s coach issues emotional statement following KO loss to Brian Ortega

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (22-6-1 MMA) suffered the first stoppage loss of his legendary mixed martial arts career to Brian Ortega at last night’s UFC 222 event in Las Vegas.

Ortega was able to catch Edgar with a nasty standing elbow late in round one which had “The Answer” noticeably rocked.

From there, “T-City” would unleash a plethora of punches which culminated in a brutal uppercut that sent Edgar crashing to the canvas.

Ortega would quickly pounce on Edgar delivering two ground and pound strikes which prompted the referee to step in and call a stop to the contest.

Congrats Brian Ortega Knock Out Frankie Edgar for the very first time in the UFC 🇺🇸🇲🇽 #ufc222 #knockout #mma #ufc @BrianTcity pic.twitter.com/Csj84qK4Gl

— Joe Sanchez (@bailsongjoe) March 4, 2018

The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Edgar, who had previously defeated perennial division contenders Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens.

Edgar’s long time coach Mark Henry released the following emotional post on Instagram just moments ago:

You're beyond Blessed in your life if you've had the privilege to meet 1 great person in your life. I'm talking about someone who impacts just thousands around him and changes and impacts your life for the better. It been a absolute miracle in my almost 50 years to have had 2 of these amazing men in my life. My father in law Pino and my little brother @frankieedgar. Even though I'm a lot older than Frankie, he has taught me way more lessons in life than I could have ever taught him. Besides being an incredible son, brother, father, husband, friend, general, mentor, champion, teammate and example to millions, I can't thank him enough for being the most incredible example to my son for the past 13 years. So hard in these times to find a great role model for your kids these days and I've been Blessed beyond belief to have had this man be an example to what is dearest to me. Forget this fight stuff there's way bigger things in life and it's a GUARANTEE FE will be back stronger than ever!! Congratulations to Brian Ortega and his amazing team. Brian's awesome example to kids. Thanks so much to everyone for always giving love and respect to our Champ. 🙏🏻

A post shared by Mark Henry (@mark_henry7) on Mar 4, 2018 at 5:35am PST

“You’re beyond Blessed in your life if you’ve had the privilege to meet 1 great person in your life. I’m talking about someone who impacts just thousands around him and changes and impacts your life for the better. It been a absolute miracle in my almost 50 years to have had 2 of these amazing men in my life. My father in law Pino and my little brother @frankieedgar. Even though I’m a lot older than Frankie, he has taught me way more lessons in life than I could have ever taught him. Besides being an incredible son, brother, father, husband, friend, general, mentor, champion, teammate and example to millions, I can’t thank him enough for being the most incredible example to my son for the past 13 years. So hard in these times to find a great role model for your kids these days and I’ve been Blessed beyond belief to have had this man be an example to what is dearest to me. Forget this fight stuff there’s way bigger things in life and it’s a GUARANTEE FE will be back stronger than ever!! Congratulations to Brian Ortega and his amazing team. Brian’s awesome example to kids. Thanks so much to everyone for always giving love and respect to our Champ. 🙏🏻” – Mark Henry

Frankie Edgar has gone 7-3 over his past ten fights, which includes stoppage victories over BJ Penn, Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes and the aforementioned Yair Rodriguez.

Who would you like to see UFC legend Frankie Edgar fight in his next octagon appearance? Sound off PENN Nation!