The Case of Frankie Edgar and the Vanishing Title Shot

Are you guys ready for some hot titlist-on-titlist action? Then get ready, because UFC is giving it to you this spring!

Yes, “titlist” is a word. Look it up. And stop laughing.

Ever since the UFC crowned a new featherweight champion in Conor McGregor last month at UFC 194, the biggest question in the sport has been what his next move will be.

Actually, the biggest question in the sport right now might be exactly how naked Ronda Rousey is expected to be in the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but people are still very curious about the Irishman’s next fight.

Well, the wait is almost over, as it has been all but confirmed that Conor will, in fact, get the opportunity to call himself “Two Belts” McGregor by moving up to lightweight to challenge UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 197 in March.

Conor wants to do what no fighter has done before in the UFC: hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time. Sure it’s been done elsewhere, like Dan Henderson in Pride, or some punk kid in Cage Warriors, but it hasn’t happened in the UFC and it’d be a major milestone if it did.

Of course, there’s no guarantee Conor wins the fight, as dos Anjos is an extremely tough match-up, not to mention bigger and stronger than the opponents Conor has been fighting since making his UFC debut in 2013, but, if anyone can accomplish the feat, it seems The Notorious One is the man to do it.

The match-up only leaves one question: What about Frankie?

The last two years have been rough for the former UFC Lightweight Champion. He dropped down to featherweight in 2013 (after Dana White more-or-less forced him to) and lost a close title fight with Jose Aldo.

After rebounding from the loss with a decision win over Charles Oliveira, he was matched up with BJ Penn in a trilogy fight no one asked for at the conclusion of a season of The Ultimate Fighter no one wanted to watch. The show was pretty sad and the fight was even sadder, but Frankie ended up victorious, defeating his most famous adversary by TKO.

It was at this point that Frankie was first named number 1 contender to the featherweight title. All he had to do was wait for Aldo to defend his title against Chad Mendes at UFC 177 and he would get the winner…

…except that UFC 177 ended up getting canceled after Aldo suffered an injury and the fight was pushed to UFC 179, while Edgar, who didn’t want to wait for his shot, took a fight against Cub Swanson, winning by savagery (and submission) to maintain his spot.

Surely he’d get the next shot, right?

Yeah, about that…Conor McGregor is Conor McGregor and Conor McGregor gets what Conor McGregor wants, so after Conor McGregor defeated Dennis Siver last January, Conor McGregor was named number 1 contender and given Dana’s blessing to become the first UFC Conor McGregor Champion of the Conor McGregor World.

Conor McGregor.

So, instead of waiting for the winner of Aldo vs. McGregor at UFC 189, Frankie took a fight with Urijah Faber, winning by unanimous decision and giving Faber his first non-title loss ever.

A win like that should get anybody a title shot. Did it get one for Frankie?

Nope. Aldo got injured (again) and UFC booked McGregor vs. Mendes for the interim title, passing over Edgar, probably so UFC could brag about how, if Conor won, he did so by beating a man with the nickname “Money.”

That’s right. Where you at, Mayweather?

The result of that fight meant that we needed to see McGregor finally battle Aldo to determine the undisputed champion. So Frankie was passed over again, taking a tough challenge against Mendes, knocking him out in 2-and-a-half minutes on the night before McGregor knocked Aldo out in 13 seconds.

So, NOW? DOES FRANKIE GET HIS TITLE SHOT NOW?

Don’t be so naïve. Of course he will. He’s just gonna have to wait. Again.

Again.

Again.

Sooner or later, Frankie has to get his shot. He’s been unstoppable since the Aldo fight, winning 5 straight, including two over top contenders, and one over a former featherweight champion. If UFC is the just and pure organization that we know it is, *WINK* then they can only deny a fighter for so long.

Well, they will deny Frankie, at least until the summer. When asked right after McGregor’s title win about what was next, Conor’s coach John Kavanagh said Conor was getting a lightweight title shot in March or April and then he’d go back down to 145 and fight Frankie, likely at UFC 200. UFC could definitely use Conor on that show, especially since they want it to be the biggest Payperview in company history and it’s still unknown if Rousey will be able to compete by then.

If UFC does want Conor to fight in July, they are putting a lot of faith in him being able to fight in March, against a very tough opponent, and hoping he makes it out of that fight injury-free so he can immediately go into camp to prepare for Frankie.

Could things play out that way? It’s very likely, assuming Conor doesn’t get hurt. Or dos Anjos gets hurt, pushing their fight back, since UFC won’t cancel the title vs. title fight that we all know Conor wants more than anything else.

…Or Frankie gets hurt, but if that happens, then too bad for him. He’ll just have to wait.

The struggle is real.

Stay strong, my New Jersey friend. Your time will come. It just may take a few decades…

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.