In November of 2016, on the main card of UFC 205, Frankie Edgar defeated Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision. This victory marked the second last obligation on Edgar’s current UFC contract. With one fight now remaining on his current UFC deal, the former lightweight champ and two-time featherweight title challenger is now looking to the future.
While many other top fighters – such as Lorenz Larkin and Ryan Bader – have been keen to fight out their contracts and explore the free agent market, Edgar is hoping to sign a new deal with the UFC before his current contract ends.
The former champ explained this hope on the latest edition of The MMA Hour.
“I’d like to get a deal,” Edgar said. “That’s what I’d like to do. Who knows what’s really gonna happen. But I would like to get a deal. I don’t really want to go anywhere else. This has been my home since the beginning. I just don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t. It’s not like we’re that far apart.”
Edgar then went on to explain that, whether he signs a new contract before his next fight or not, he’d like that next fight to be against either interim featherweight champion Max Holloway, or long-time featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas – two of the few remaining top featherweights he has yet to fight.
“I think those are ones who make sense, depending on what Holloway is gonna do with Aldo, what Aldo is gonna do,” Edgar said. “Who knows?”
With his defeat of Stephens, Edgar returned to the win column after a second decision loss to featherweight king Jose Aldo. Prior to this loss to Aldo, the New Jersey native was enjoying a nice, five-fight win-streak, having defeated Charles Oliveira, BJ Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber, and Chad Mendes.
Who do you think Frankie Edgar should fight next? Sound off, PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/7/2017.