Frankie Edgar Gives "The Answer" in Exclusive B/R Interview

Toms River, N.J.’s Frankie “The Answer” Edgar has seen his stock grow tremendously since defeating former UFC Lightweight champion, Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk at UFC 98.

Considered a 3-1 underdog by many, Edgar showcased his ever-evolving skills to outpoint Sherk en route to a spectacular unanimous decision victory.

Edgar is seemingly one big victory away from earning a shot at the prestigious 155-pound championship, but he must first get past unbeaten prospect Matt Veach.

In this exclusive interview, Edgar gives “The Answer” on several different topics, including a rematch with Gray Maynard, a potential stint as a coach on TUF, and much more.

Mitch Ciccarelli: You have a big fight coming up at the TUF 10 Finale on Dec. 5. Originally you were set to take on fellow New Jerseyan Kurt Pellegrino, but an injury has forced Pellegrino out of the fight, and he has been replaced by undefeated prospect Matt Veach.

Before we get into that, let’s talk about TUF season 10. Did you get a chance to watch any of the episodes, and if so, what are your thoughts on the season in general?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, I’ve been watching [it] a little bit. It’s been pretty good, pretty entertaining with Rashad and Rampage going at it. The fights have been okay and I’m sure we’ll get a couple of good heavyweights from the show.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Matt Veach is a very tough fighter, training out of the H.I.T. squad with former UFC champ Matt Hughes and former Elite XC champ Robbie Lawler. However, despite his limitless potential, he’s a guy that’s somewhat relatively unknown by most fans.

Do you think that is going to make him that much more dangerous mentally, knowing that he has the opportunity to make a huge statement in the division against a ranked fighter such as yourself?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, absolutely, it’s his time to shine so I’ve got to make sure that he doesn’t do it on my time.

Mitch Ciccarelli: What do you think is the most dangerous aspect of Veach’s game and do you think he will hold an advantage over you anywhere or do you think you’re overall the better fighter in every aspect?

Frankie Edgar: I think he’ll be a little bit bigger than me and the wrestling will probably be really close. I think I’m a little bit more technical with my hands but he does have some power in his hands, and I think I’ll have better Jiu-Jitsu.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Did you watch Veach’s UFC debut against Matt Grice at UFC Fight Night 17? If so, what did you think of his performance?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, that was a good fight, man. He got rocked in the beginning and showed some resiliency. He came back and showed the power in his hands catching Grice and then finishing him off.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Do you think stylistically this fight could develop into the fight of the night seeing as how you’re both exciting fighters with an aggressive pace?

Frankie Edgar: It possibly could. You know you’ll usually see the fight of the night in the 155-pound division because we’re the small guys and we fight at a higher pace. I’ve won [the fight of the night bonus] twice, so you never know, man.

Mitch Ciccarelli: The lightweight division is arguably the most exciting weight class in the UFC, but a lot of people kind of criticize the 155-pounders for the lack of finishes in most of their fights. Do you believe the reason most lightweight fights go the distance is because it is such a stacked division?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, and I also think we’re all pretty evenly matched too, you know what I mean? There might be a couple guys who are ahead of some of the others, but I think most of us are pretty evenly matched [in this weight class]. It’s not easy finishing fights [at 155].

Mitch Ciccarelli: You kicked off your UFC career with three impressive victories, including a war with Tyson Griffin in your Octagon debut.

You suffered a minor setback in the Gray Maynard fight but bounced back with incredible victories over former title challenger Hermes Franca and former Lightweight champ Sean Sherk. Would you agree that you are now at least a fight or two away from earning a title shot?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, absolutely, I think a win over Veach and possibly one more win after that will get me a title shot. We’ll see what happens, but like you said, this division is stacked, so who knows?

Mitch Ciccarelli: You and Gray Maynard are viewed by many as being next in line for a title shot after B.J Penn takes on Diego Sanchez at UFC 107. Yet you’re fighting Veach and he’s fighting Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night 20.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to set up a rematch between you and Maynard to determine the next number one contender?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, I mean I would like to have a rematch [with Maynard] but it’s just how the UFC is, they have their game-plan for what matchups they want to see. I know they don’t really like doing rematches too much unless it’s for a title or something.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Since the Maynard fight, it seems you have done a tremendous amount of evolving and have tightened up your boxing and Jiu-Jitsu skills as well as improving you’re already dangerous wrestling base.

Do you think Maynard has evolved as much as you have, or do you feel he’s still the same fighter he was when you first fought him?

Frankie Edgar: I think he’s gotten a lot better. His stand-up is much better and he seems more confident [with his striking]. He seems to be standing up more and only goes for the takedowns when he has to so I definitely see some improvements in him since the last time I fought him.

His standup looked good against Roger Huerta and Jim Miller, and he will always have that size, strength, and wrestling ability as well.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Thanksgiving is coming up tomorrow night, a week before you’re fight so it must be a bit frustrating for you to not be able to stuff your face as much, knowing that you’ll have to watch your weight, am I right?

Frankie Edgar: Well as you know, I am on the smaller end of the weight class, so I will be able to indulge a little bit. I’m not going to be eating extensively, but I won’t be starving at all, I’ll tell you that.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Well speaking of your size, a lot of your doubters claim that you’re a bit undersized for the 155-pound division, even after dominating one of the division’s bulkiest fighters in Sherk, do you still hear those comments about dropping down to 145 pounds or have your critics been humbled for the most part?

Frankie Edgar: I don’t hear it as much but people still bring it up and ask me if I’ll go down [to 145]. I just tell them that I feel like I’m close [to a title shot] and I’m proving myself at 155. I probably could make 145 pounds if I really wanted to, but I’m content with staying at 155 and getting that lightweight belt first.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Since your fight is taking place on The Ultimate Finale, in the spirit of The Ultimate Fighter, would you be interested in coaching a season of TUF, if the UFC asked you?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah I’d be down with that, man. I coach at Rutgers University and help out there as a part-time assistant coach. I feel like the coach is kind of in me and it would also be great exposure, so I’d be down for it, for sure.

Mitch Ciccarelli: How much more do you learn as the coach then you normally would as the student?

Frankie Edgar: Oh it’s unbelievable, man. You learn a lot as a coach, when you sit back and tell someone what to do and then you realize, ‘hey I need to start doing that myself.’ I think coaching can improve a fighter’s game tremendously.

Mitch Ciccarelli: There are some pretty unique nicknames in the world of MMA you’ve got names like “The Axe Murderer”, “The Irish Hand Grenade”, “The Iceman”. Heck, Mark Miller calls himself “The Meat Missile.”

With all these crazy nicknames, I think you’ve got the best one with “The Answer.” It’s not necessarily as crazy as the others, but it’s so much more unique than most fighter nicknames. How did you get this nickname and what exactly does it mean?

Frankie Edgar: My good friend and training partner, Chris Liguori, gave it to me. He was just like; ‘you’ve always got the answer’ so maybe I had a big mouth or something, I don’t know. But it sounds good with Edgar.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Your fight with Veach will serve as the night’s co-main event, as the headliner will feature a Light-Heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Matt Hamill. What do you think of this fight, care to make any predictions?

Frankie Edgar: Ah man, you know I really can’t say. It’s definitely going to be a great fight and it will be Jon Jones’ biggest test to date. He’s fighting a guy that probably has just as good wrestling ability [as him] with a pent-up heart in Matt Hamill.

Hamill doesn’t stop, he can take a big shot and keep coming forward so we’ll see what happens. There will definitely be fireworks, though.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Let’s also talk about the upcoming Lightweight title fight between B.J Penn and Diego Sanchez? Obviously whoever wins that fight is who you’ll be looking to take the title from in the near future.

As a fighter, you clearly are confident that you could beat either one of them but which one presents the best matchup for you, Sanchez or Penn?

Frankie Edgar: Best matchup? You know, I don’t really know. It doesn’t really matter and whoever has the belt would be fine for me.

Mitch Ciccarelli: I’ve noticed that with a lot of new fighters, they seem to become very excited to train and learn new things.

This is a quality that a lot of the veterans seem to lose because to them it’s just like another day at the office and I think that’s one of the reasons why we see a lot of these longtime vets not being able to evolve as fighters.

You’ve been fighting professionally since 2005 and are one of those guys that constantly improves, do you attribute that to the fact that you’re still excited about learning new techniques?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah absolutely man, I feel like when I get a new toy, I have to use it, you know? I feel like I still have plenty of room to grow.

I believe a lot of techniques and stuff has to do with confidence and I think as my confidence grows, everything else will grow as well.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Obviously your main goal is to eventually win the Lightweight title and defend it as many times as you can but other than that what else are you looking to accomplish in your UFC career?

For example 10 years from now, what do you want the fans to remember about Frankie Edgar?

Frankie Edgar: I just want the fans to know that I fought with all my heart and I’m a good dude. Ten years from now, I’d possibly be in the Hall of Fame and I’ll still be fighting if possible. Getting into the Hall of Fame is a big goal, you can’t ask to accomplish anymore than that.

Mitch Ciccarelli: All right, Frankie, thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with me today.

I wish you the best of luck in your fight next week, it should be an all-out war and I for one am looking forward to it. If there is anything else you’d like to say before we end this thing, go for it.

Frankie Edgar: I just want to thank all of my fans and teammates for helping me out.