While many are happy to spend their Sunday morning digesting Conor McGregor’s stunning 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to become the undisputed 145-pound champion of the UFC, there is one man who is more interested in what’s next. His name is Frankie Edgar, and he wants “The Answer.”
Edgar, who himself scored an impressive first round knockout this weekend, becoming only the third person to finish longtime top-ranked featherweight contender Chad Mendes at the TUF 22 Finale on Friday, wants to know if he is fighting “The Notorious” one next.
While UFC President Dana White flat out told Edgar he’s got the next shot at the UFC Featherweight title after his destruction of Mendes, unfortunately it’s not exactly a cut-and-dry issue.
“I mean, last night I was told I was getting the winner,” Edgar said after last night’s UFC 194 pay-per-view in Las Vegas. “Now I’m hearing a rumor Conor might go up, and then I heard in an interview that he might want to stick around and fight me, so I’m game.”
When asked if he was worried that he might not be the next man standing across from the Irish mega-star, the former UFC Lightweight Champion admitted he was.
“Of course, of course — you’ve seen it happen before and now I think I’ve seen it slip out of my hands, and I’ve seen it slip out of others hands before too,” he said. “I’ve got to be ready for that, but I’m hoping for the best.”
UFC’s Vice President of Public Relations, Dave Sholler, who is probably best known for trying — and failing miserably — to keep Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier apart during their infamous media day brawl last year, elaborated on the subject, revealing some scenarios UFC President Dana White laid out to the company’s television partners backstage immediately after McGregor’s knockout of Aldo.
“Yeah, [White] laid out some scenarios,” Sholler said. “One scenario is he stays at 145 and fights Frankie Edgar. The second scenario is potentially vacating that title and then moving up and getting the next shot following the FOX card next weekend between [Donald] Cerrone and [Rafael] dos Anjos.”
Sholler continued, “Those are the two scenarios. You know Dana doesn’t like to make fights on the night of the fight, but that’s how he laid it out for several TV partners backstage.”
According to Edgar, McGregor has one fight left to prove he’s the best 145 pound fighter in the world.
“Yeah, I mean, I guess, but then again it could be that we didn’t get to see much and we want to see it again,” said Edgar. “Again, it’s up to Conor. It’s up to Dana. We’ll see. I think if he’s thinking about going to 155, which is another rumor, he’s got one more fight left, and that’s me. I think I’m his worst match-up. I know it, and I think a lot of people know it. And I think he’s got to fight that fight before he makes that move.”
