Frankie Edgar has a storied history in the UFC. The former lightweight champion has just three losses in his 15 fights and has been itching to get back into title contention after losing his belt to Benson Henderson in 2012.
The problem is Edgar, who has won his last five fights in the featherweight division, suffered an injury last month that will keep him out of action for at least another month. So when UFC president Dana White called looking for an opponent to replace Rafael dos Anjos against Conor McGregor next week, Edgar knew he wouldn't be ready.
The problem? Edgar claims UFC knew he was hurt and still called to see if he could fight, knowing how much Edgar has wanted to take on McGregor.
"I’m pissed off for a couple of reasons. I’m pissed off that I’ve got this opportunity slip through again. I’m sitting here, I’m the one who’s been trying to fight this guy for months now," Edgar told MMAFighting.com. "I’m flying myself to Vegas on my own dime to lobby to get a fight with this guy and now here comes the opportunity, and I’m hurt and I can’t take it. I haven’t done anything in four weeks. I didn’t just pull my groin, I tore it. I sent Dana and everyone in the UFC my MRI."
Edgar is really unhappy with White in particular.
"I’m even more pissed that Dana’s insinuating that I ‘refused’ to take this fight, which is bulls---," he said. "Just because they asked me doesn’t mean they were going to give it to me because guess what, in July they asked me to take the [UFC 189] fight on 15 day’s notice, which of course I accepted, and I still didn’t get it."
Edgar is one of a handful of fighters who has competed in multiple weight classes in the UFC. After losing his lightweight belt to Benson Henderson, he got a chance to fight Jose Aldo for the featherweight belt, losing a unanimous decision. However, Edgar has stayed at the 145-pound weight class because UFC does not want fighters to cross classes and hold up divisions, making the company's decision to allow McGregor fight at 155, and now 170 for UFC 196, frustrate Edgar even more.
"And this is what my team was pissed at," Edgar said. "This dude, they were going to let this guy hold the 145-pound title, go up to [1]55, now two weight classes are being held up. And now they’re saying he’s going to go up to 70. This is a circus. The ‘C’ in UFC stands for Conor. This guy runs the show."
