Frankie Edgar: 'I felt it should have been me'
Former lightweight world champion Frankie Edgar demanded that his next fight be for the featherweight championship, after he beat Urijah Faber to win his fourth straight fight since losing a razor-close decision to champion Jose Aldo in 2013. He'd already gotten passed over for another title shot by the bombastic Conor McGregor, and Edgar insisted he wouldn't take any more waiting.
Then, things got complicated this week when Jose Aldo's fitness to fight next month at UFC 189 was called into question after sustaining some serious rib injuries. The compromise was that Aldo would stay in the fight, but former two-time title challenger Chad Mendes would be on stand-by, ready to fight McGregor for an interim belt, should "Scarface" be unable to compete July 11.
That news was announced Wednesday night, and Edgar took to Twitter Thursday morning to express his disappointment.
Edgar didn't give any indication of what he might do next, but simply thanked his fans. It is entirely possible that he will have to wait a good while longer and perhaps fight someone else in order to get another shot.
Should Aldo compete and win, it seems likely that Edgar would get his shot. However, if Aldo can't compete and is replaced by Mendes, it also seems possible that then Edgar would have to wait for Aldo to fight the winner of Mendes vs. McGregor afterwards, before getting the title bout.
If Aldo should compete injured but lose to McGregor, another likely scenario would seem to be an immediate rematch between he and McGregor. That would also force Edgar to wait and/or fight again.
None of that has to sit well with "The Answer." We'll keep you posted with more word from Edgar when we can get it.
