Frankie Edgar and the UFC Fighters Who Would Be Great at Another Weight Class

Currently UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is one of the most successful and smallest lightweights in MMA.

Standing at 5’6", Edgar usually cuts very little, if any weight before a fight.

Although his focus is on his UFC 136 opponent Gray Maynard, Edgar told MMAFighting.com that moving to featherweight could be a possibility in the future.

If Edgar does find himself in that situation he could end up like Randy Couture and BJ Penn as fighters who have won UFC championships in two different weight divisions.

Here's a look at some of the other fighters who could be successful at a different weight division. 

Joseph Benavidez

One of the best bantamweights today is Joseph Benavidez.

Despite being smaller than much of his competition, Benavidez has only lost twice.

The problem is the two losses have come to current Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

If and when the UFC brings in a flyweight division, Benavidez would be a top candidate for a championship fight. 

Demetrious Johnson

Another candidate for a flyweight division would be Demetrious Johnson.

Like Benavidez, Johnson has had a successful run at Bantamweight despite being much smaller than his opponents.

Johnson suffered the same fate that Benavidez did once he faced Dominick Cruz.

Although Johnson has said he did not want to drop to flyweight if the opportunity ever came, it could be a better option for him. 

Jake Shields

Shields has had success at both welterweight and middleweight in the past.

But since joining the UFC and fighting at 170 lbs, Shields has not looked great.

Shields last fight could be excused due to losing his father just weeks before his fight with Jake Ellenberger.

But prior fights before that Jake has looked exhausted, possibly from the weight cut. 

It would be interesting to see if a move back up to middleweight brings the same success Shields had in Strikeforce. 

Anderson Silva

MMA’s pound for pound best has fought as low as welterweight and has tested the waters at light heavyweight.

Silva’s two wins at light heavyweight are by knockout, including the beat down of former UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin.

Many believe he has just about cleaned out the middleweight division and should have a super fight with either Georges St-Pierre or Jon Jones.

Both fights are very unlikely at the moment, and thanks to Silva’s age, it’s possible he may retire before he would even consider moving to another weight class permanently. 

Georges St-Pierre

Welterweight king Georges St-Pierre has just about cleaned out his weight division. 

Over the past year or so there has been much talk of a super fight between himself and middleweight champ Anderson Silva. 

Although that bout seems unlikely at the moment, St-Pierre moving up, may not be. 

St-Pierre has often said that if he makes the move, he wants to add the weight the right way, and stay there permanently. 

Because he is one of the best game planners in the game, St-Pierre should have no issue making the transition to the middleweight division. 

Frankie Edgar

Current UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is currently 13-1-1.

His wins include BJ Penn (twice), Sean Sherk and Jim Miller.

The one riddle that he has yet to solve at 155 lbs is Gray Maynard. Edgar is 0-1-1 against Maynard thus far, and will face him once again this Saturday at UFC 136.

Win or lose, Edgar would be a good fit at 145.

His speed, boxing, wrestling and toughness would make an interesting match for some of the 145 pounders, especially Jose Aldo.