Coach makes case for Frankie Edgar to drop to 135

After Frankie Edgar failed to capture the UFC featherweight title from Max Holloway at UFC 240 over the weekend, there are renewed calls for him to drop down to the 135-pound bantamweight division where he would be at less of a size disadvantage. From the sounds of it, even his coach Ricardo Almeida is interested in seeing this happen.

“We’ve been talking about this for a while, telling him to move down to 135 pounds, but he never really wanted it, he was never really interested,” Almeida told MMA Fighting. “What Frankie wants is to be the best in the world. Frankie wants to win this second belt. And if he sees a path to get to that belt in that weight class, I’m sure he would really consider it. And I think he’d probably have that path.

“It doesn’t make sense for him to go down just for a fight, but if it’s for a title run and become champion again, I think everyone wants to see that. It would be incredible to see him fighting (Henry) Cejudo, (T.J.) Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz, all those beasts in that weight class — except for Marlon (Moraes) [laughs].”

Almeida went on to explain how Frankie Edgar has had to compensate when fighting bigger, longer opponents, and even when sparring with his larger training partners in the gym.

“We have to high-level guys we can analyze,” he said. “You can see the difference in Frankie’s ability when he can use his reach. Against Zabit, he has to keep moving forward the entire time to close the distance. Against Marlon, it’s back and forth with them throwing combinations. It’s an incredible ‘fight’, both are excellent fighters, but it’s more normal than fighting someone who’s so bigger than you. You’re getting hit in a distance you can’t hit them back, something that happened a few times in this fight with Holloway.”

Would you be interested in seeing Frankie Edgar fight at bantamweight?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/30/2019.