Frankie Edgar reveals why he didn't take a short-notice fight after Pedro Munhoz tested positive for COVID-19
Frankie Edgar is set to take on #5 ranked Bantamweight Pedro Munhoz in his 135-pound debut. While they were supposed to fight last month, Munhoz tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out from the fight. Frankie Edgar chose to wait it out and they landed up with the main event spot this coming weekend.
Frankie Edgar admitted that he's aware of people questioning where he's at in his career and what he's capable of. He told MMA Fighting:
"I know a lot of people are questioning where I’m at in my career,” Edgar said during the UFC on ESPN 15 media day. “I’m a little bit older. I’m coming down a weight class. People are questioning my abilities here.
Frankie Edgar said that he's determined to prove that he's still a top dog regardless of weight class. Frankie Edgar was originally supposed to make his Bantamweight debut in late January 2020 against Cory Sandhagen.
But he pulled out of that in favor of fighting in the main event at UFC Busan against The Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung - the final UFC fight of the decade - a mistake he wants to avoid making as he was brutally knocked out:
“I’ve taken some notice fights, short opponent changes, it didn’t always work out the way I wanted it to,” Edgar explained. “I learned from some past mistakes, I guess you could say, and I said let’s just wait."
Frankie Edgar felt that ultimately, it worked out better:
“We got rebooked a month later, it’s really not that big of a deal. I just feel like I had more time to prepare. More time to feel like I could make this weight and it all worked out.”
Where does Frankie Edgar stand in the Featherweight division?
One has to think of Jose Aldo's jump to the Bantamweight division when anticipating how Frankie Edgar will fare. Jose Aldo arguably defeated Marlon Moraes, but the judges favored the latter in a somewhat-controversial decision win.
Jose Aldo's second fight was for the vacant Bantamweight Championship - where he was exceptional until suffering a brutal TKO at the hands of Petr Yan. Pedro Munhoz presents the perfect test for Frankie Edgar and if The Answer can beat the Brazillian, then he's likely going to enter the top 5 rankings quickly.
Will Frankie Edgar have an answer to Pedro Munhoz? Or will he get a harsh welcome to the UFC Bantamweight division?