This past weekend on the preliminary card of UFC 205, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar stepped into the Octagon to fight top ranked featherweight Jeremy Stephens. Edgar, a New Jersey native, received a warm welcome to the Octagon by the New York crowd.
Edgar put on an impressive performance as he ultimately picked up a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Stephens, slamming ‘Lil Heathen’ on several occasions while going for the takedown despite being the smaller fighter. The win also returned Edgar to the win column after dropping a unanimous decision to Jose Aldo on the main card of UFC 200 back in July for the interim featherweight championship. The loss to Aldo, which snapped Edgar’s 5-fight win streak, was his first in three years, with his most recent loss before that coming to Aldo at UFC 156.
With his win over Stephens, Edgar has cemented his place at the top of the featherweight division as the #1 contender behind featherweight champion Conor McGregor and interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Following the fight, Edgar took to social media to reflect on the win:
With Edgar as the featherweight #1 contender, and #3 ranked Max Holloway currently booked to fight former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who is #6 on the UFC’s official featherweight rankings, there are few fights in the 145 pound division for Edgar given that he has defeated many of the top 10 featherweights.
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With that being said, one potential option for Edgar is to fight #4 ranked featherweight Ricardo Lamas, who is coming off an impressive submission win over JiuJitsu ace Charles Oliveira, and currently does not have a fight booked.
Stay tuned for updates regarding Edgar’s next fight!