4.Edgar’s UFC resume: While McGregor had his hands full with Nate Diaz, who normally fights as a lightweight, an under-sized Frankie Edgar won the UFC lightweight crown back in 2010. Edgar defeated BJ Penn when Penn was considered the best lightweight in the world and holds victories against Sean Sherk, Gray Maynard, Urijah Faber, Cub Swanson, and Chad Mendes. Edgar is currently on a five-fight winning streak, since losing a close decision to Aldo in 2013.
5.Edgar’s wrestling resume: McGregor showed major holes in his ground game against both Chad Mendes and Nate Diaz. Frankie Edgar was a NCAA tournament qualifier at Clarion University and was an assistant wrestling coach at Rutgers University. He has one of the best wrestling games in the UFC and continues to coach wrestling at the youth level and at Ricardo Almeida’s academy.
6.Edgar’s grappling: Edgar holds a black belt in BJJ from Ricardo Almeida and combines his wrestling and BJJ skills to utilize one of the best ground and pound games in the UFC. Edgar is able to control opponents from both the half-guard and side-control positions to setup his ground striking and submission games.
7.Edgar’s cardio: Nate Diaz’s cardio allowed him to weather the first round storm against McGregor and push the pace in the second round to setup his submission victory. Edgar is known to have one of the best gas tanks in the UFC and has gone five-full rounds eight times during his career. McGregor has never gone past the third round in his career and showed he will struggle with his cardio after the first round.
8.Edgar’s coaches: Edgar’s team of coaches includes Mark Henry, who is considered one of the best striking coaches in MMA. Henry also owns Pino’s Pizza in Woodbridge, NJ. Once the fight goes to the ground, Edgar has UFC veteran and Renzo Gracie black belt Ricardo Almeida to coach his BJJ and ground striking game.
9.Edgar’s training partners: Nate Diaz questioned the quality of McGregor’s training partners. Nate won’t be able to do the same with Edgar. The Toms River, NJ native’s roster of training partners include WSOF bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes and UFC lightweight contenders Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. Throw in BJJ training partners like Tom DeBlass, Garry Tonon, and Gordon Ryan and McGregor has every reason to prefer Aldo.
10.Frankie’s mental toughness: Edgar is used to the role of the undersized, underdog. He fought BJ Penn twice when Penn was seen as unbeatable in the lightweight division. He fought larger opponents in Gray Maynard and Benson Henderson in main event title fights. Edgar isn’t scared of a challenge and has already fought a laundry list of killers during his UFC career.
