Frankie Edgar is making the move to the loaded 135-pound division.
According to a report from ESPN, “The Answer” is making the drop to bantamweight following his most recent opportunity to capture a world championship at UFC 240. Edgar fought valiantly against the reigning champion Max Holloway, but ultimately would drop a unanimous decision.
Edgar’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN that the plans are already in place for the drop and the hope is to have his client make his bantamweight debut in New York.
“We have already started discussing Frankie’s bantamweight debut,” Abdelaziz told ESPN. “We’re hoping it will be at UFC 244 on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden, but 100 percent Frankie’s next fight will be at 135 pounds.”
With an 8-4 record in the featherweight division, Edgar challenged for the 145-pound world title on three different occasions, including a pair of unanimous decision losses to Jose Aldo. This will be the second drop in weight for Edgar as he entered the UFC in 2007 as a lightweight and went on to capture the division’s championship back in at UFC 112 in 2010.
According to the report from ESPN, Edgar’s longtime head coach Mark Henry has been pushing the former world champion to make this move for quite some time.
“It feels like a new beginning for us,” Henry told ESPN. “I love the kid, and I feel it will be safer for him at 135. He always does better when he fights guys his own size. When he’s fighting guys with similar height and range — sometimes they still weigh more than him, but I feel like it’s an even playing field.
“He was barely cutting any weight at featherweight. I think during this last camp, he was 152 pounds a few weeks before the fight. And he hadn’t started cutting yet.”
Who would you like to see Frankie Edgar face in his bantamweight debut?