| Frankie Edgar | |
|---|---|
Edgar in 2010 |
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| Born | Frank James Edgar October 16, 1981 Toms River, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Other names | The Answer |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Weight | 154.5 lb (70.1 kg; 11.0 st) |
| Division | Lightweight |
| Reach | 72 in (183 cm) |
| Style | Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Toms River, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Team | Renzo Gracie Combat Team |
| Trainer | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Ricardo Almeida, Renzo Gracie Boxing: Mark Henry Wrestling: Steve Rivera Muay Thai: Kru Phil Nurse |
| Rank | Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Wrestling | NCAA Division I Wrestling |
| Years active | 2005 – present (MMA) |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 16 |
| Wins | 14 |
| By knockout | 3 |
| By submission | 3 |
| By decision | 8 |
| Losses | 1 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Amateur career | |
| Total | 1 |
| Wins | 1 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Other information | |
| University | Clarion University of Pennsylvania |
| Spouse | Renee |
| Children | 2 |
| Notable school(s) | Toms River High School East |
| Website | http://www.frankedgar.com/ |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
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Frank James Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes as a lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. His first and only career loss came against Gray Maynard in 2008, which marked the beginning of a noted rivalry. He is currently ranked as the #1 lightweight and #4 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog.com.[1][2]
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Born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey, Edgar wrestled at Toms River High School East, making it to the New Jersey state championship tournament on three occasions, placing second as a junior and fifth as a senior. Edgar is the oldest of 3 children, Edgar went on to compete in the NHSCA Senior Nationals and placed second before he finished high school. He continued wrestling at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he qualified for the nationals all four years there.[3] Edgar is also an assistant coach for the Rutgers University wrestling team.[4]
Edgar entered his first mixed martial arts fight with only a few weeks of training outside of his wrestling background. Edgar originally trained with Rob Guarino of Rhino Fight Team, but today he is part of the Gracie system under Ricardo Almeida in Hamilton, NJ. Since seventh grade Edgar has wrestled with Steve Rivera at Elite Wrestling NJ[5] in Jackson, NJ. His boxing trainer is Mark Henry of Millstone, NJ.
Edgar amassed a 5–0 record before trying out for season five of The Ultimate Fighter. Edgar tried out in front of Dana White and Joe Silva, but was not selected to be on the show.[6] However, a month later the UFC contacted Edgar and asked if he would accept a fight with fellow undefeated fighter Tyson Griffin at UFC 67. Griffin caught Edgar in a deep kneebar at the end of the fight, but Edgar refused to tap and lasted out the remainder of the round to win by unanimous decision. The fight has been frequently rebroadcast on UFC Unleashed.
Edgar followed up with a first-round TKO victory over Mark Bocek at UFC 73. He made his main card debut at UFC 78 against veteran fighter Spencer Fisher and won via unanimous decision.
Edgar suffered his first loss at UFC Fight Night 13 against Gray Maynard. This fight marked the first bout of a series. Maynard used his size and wrestling skill to overpower Edgar en route to a unanimous decision. Edgar rebounded with another Fight of the Night victory against Hermes França at UFC: Silva vs. Irvin. Edgar then defeated former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, outworking him all three rounds to earn the unanimous decision victory over the stronger and heavier fighter.
Edgar was a featured fighter on True Life: I'm a Mixed Martial Artist leading up to his fight with Maynard.[7] Edgar appears in UFC 2009 Undisputed.
Edgar was expected to face Kurt Pellegrino on December 5, 2009 on The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale,[8] but Pellegrino was forced to withdraw due to an injury.[9] Matt Veach was named as Pellegrino's replacement, moving up from the undercard bout. [10] After being on the defensive for most of the first round, Edgar became the aggressor in the second round by punishing Veach with strikes, Ultimately knocking Veach down with a straight right, Edgar then proceeded to take Veach's back thus Finishing via rear naked choke at 2:22 into the second round.[11]
At UFC 112, Edgar was matched against lightweight champion BJ Penn. After a long, back-and-forth, predominantly standing fight, the judges' scorecards were called on for a decision. The scores were 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47, all for Edgar. The unanimous decision win awarded him the UFC Lightweight Championship.[12]
On June 24, 2010 ESPN announced Edgar as a nominee for Best Upset of the Year at the 2010 ESPY Awards.[13]
The bout at UFC 112 was deemed close enough that Edgar's first title defense took the form of a UFC 118 rematch against Penn on August 28, 2010.[14] Edgar defeated Penn via unanimous decision to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship, this time with no controversy after taking Penn down multiple times and out-striking him throughout all five rounds. All three judges scored the bout 50-45 for Edgar,[15][16] making him the second fighter to defeat Penn in the lightweight division [17] (the other being Jens Pulver), and the second fighter ever to beat Penn twice (the other being Georges St-Pierre).
Edgar's next title defense was against Gray Maynard, the only man to ever defeat Edgar, in a rematch from UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon. Maynard earned the #1 contender spot at UFC 118 with a win over Kenny Florian.[18] The bout took place on January 1, 2011 at UFC 125, with the fight ending in a draw (judges scorecards: 48-46 Maynard, 48-46 Edgar, 47-47). His fight with Maynard marks the third time in UFC history that a championship fight ended as a draw.
During the UFC 125 post-fight press conference, it was announced that Edgar's next opponent would be Anthony Pettis in a belt unification match. However, less than two hours later UFC president Dana White announced a change of plans. Edgar was then scheduled to fight Gray Maynard for the third time[19] at UFC 130.[20] Dana White confirmed on May 9, 2011 that both Edgar and Maynard had sustained injuries and that their bout was pulled from event.[21] The fight was re-scheduled as the main event of UFC 136.[22] At the event, Edgar defeated Maynard via KO at 3:54 of round 4 to retain the title. After a first round similar to the first round in their bout at UFC 125, Edgar was able to close in on Maynard landing more shots and becoming the aggressor. He finished Maynard with a flurry of punches, starting with an uppercut that rocked Maynard. The fight was subsequently stopped resulting in a TKO for Edgar, earning Knockout of the Night honors.[23]
Edgar is expected to face Benson Henderson on February 26, 2012 at UFC 144.[24]
Edgar and his wife, Renee, were married ten days after UFC Fight Night 13. The couple have two sons—Francesco, born in January 2009,[25] and Santino James, born in May 2010.[26]
Edgar is a resident of Toms River, New Jersey.[27]
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 16 matches | 14 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 3 | 0 |
| By submission | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 8 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 14–1–1 | Gray Maynard | KO (punches) | UFC 136 | October 8, 2011 | 4 | 3:54 | Houston, Texas, United States | Defended UFC Lightweight Championship. Knockout of the Night. |
| Draw | 13–1–1 | Gray Maynard | Draw (split) | UFC 125 | January 1, 2011 | 5 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Retained UFC Lightweight Championship; Fight of the night; Won MMA awards Fight of the Year. |
| Win | 13–1 | B.J. Penn | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 118 | August 28, 2010 | 5 | 5:00 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States | Defended the UFC Lightweight Championship |
| Win | 12–1 | B.J. Penn | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 112 | April 10, 2010 | 5 | 5:00 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Won the UFC Lightweight Championship |
| Win | 11–1 | Matt Veach | Submission (rear-naked choke) | The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale | December 5, 2009 | 2 | 2:22 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Fight of the Night. |
| Win | 10–1 | Sean Sherk | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 98 | May 23, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 9–1 | Hermes França | Decision (unanimous) | UFC: Silva vs. Irvin | July 19, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Fight of the Night. |
| Loss | 8–1 | Gray Maynard | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon | April 2, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | |
| Win | 8–0 | Spencer Fisher | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 78 | November 17, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Newark, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 7–0 | Mark Bocek | TKO (punches) | UFC 73 | July 7, 2007 | 1 | 4:55 | Sacramento, California, United States | |
| Win | 6–0 | Tyson Griffin | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 67 | February 3, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | UFC Debut. |
| Win | 5–0 | Jim Miller | Decision (unanimous) | Reality Fighting 14 | November 18, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Deividas Taurosevičius | Decision (unanimous) | RF 13: Battle at the Beach | August 5, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Wildwood, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 | Steve Macabe | Submission (guillotine choke) | Ring of Combat 10 | April 14, 2006 | 1 | 2:37 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Jay Isip | Technical submission (rear-naked choke) | SportFighting 2 | December 10, 2005 | 1 | 3:26 | Hoboken, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Mark Getto | TKO (punches) | Ring of Combat 9 | October 29, 2005 | 1 | 4:21 | Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States |