Tony
15-05-2009, 08:37
http://mmamania.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/edgarint.jpg
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been nearly a year since we last saw Frank Edgar inside the Octagon. And if he has it his way, we’re going to see a new and improved fighter at UFC 98. We’ll call it Frankie 2.0.
Tracing Edgar’s UFC career, you might not think this guy needs to change things up. He’s got a winning formula: he’s a four-time national-qualifying collegiate wrestler with great standup and a lot of flexibility (just ask Tyson Griffin).
It was enough to amass an undefeated record (5-0, including a win over Jim Miller) to earn a berth into the world’s top MMA organization, where he went on to secure hard-fought victories over Griffin, Mark Bocek and Spencer Fisher. In the process, he began redefining the “decision victory,” shattering the myth that fights that go to the judges’ scorecards are somehow boring and picking up a “Fight of the Night” award in the process.
In April 2008, Edgar faced Gray Maynard in perhaps his only fight we’ve seen that wasn’t a complete barn-burner. Maynard used his size and strength to keep Edgar on the ground for most of the fight, eking out the unanimous decision victory and securing himself a spot near the front of the UFC’s lightweight pack.
The good new is it didn’t take long for Edgar to bounce back.
Just three months later, Edgar bettered former number one contender Hermes Franca to earn his second “Fight of the Night” honors. He was supposed to follow that up with a December 2008 bout against Matt Wiman, who was on a hot streak of his own, at UFC: “Fight for the Troops.”
The fight was not to be. A week and a half before, Edgar blew out his knee in training and was forced to withdraw. Miller took his place, out-wrestled the explosive Wiman, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Which brings us to today and, certainly, Edgar’s biggest challenge to date: former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. The “Muscle Shark’s” body looks like a He-Man action figure … only six or seven inches taller. If “The Answer” had trouble countering Maynard’s size and strength, how will he adjust to Sherk?
That’s what we intend to find out, come Saturday, May 23 at UFC 98: “Evans vs. Machida,” when Edgar (9-1) takes on Sherk (33-3-1). It’s part of the main card lineup for the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast, airing live at 10:00 p.m. ET from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We recently caught up with Edgar, who for the past year has trained at the Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy (http://www.ricardoalmeida.com/) in Hamilton, N.J., while continuing to serve as an assistant coach to the Rutgers University wrestling team. We talked about the challenges of putting on weight, his fights with Maynard, Franca and Griffin, and what we have to look forward to, come May 23.
He assured us to be ready … because you just might see an all-new Frankie Edgar:
INTERVIEW BEGINT HIER
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been nearly a year since we last saw Frank Edgar inside the Octagon. And if he has it his way, we’re going to see a new and improved fighter at UFC 98. We’ll call it Frankie 2.0.
Tracing Edgar’s UFC career, you might not think this guy needs to change things up. He’s got a winning formula: he’s a four-time national-qualifying collegiate wrestler with great standup and a lot of flexibility (just ask Tyson Griffin).
It was enough to amass an undefeated record (5-0, including a win over Jim Miller) to earn a berth into the world’s top MMA organization, where he went on to secure hard-fought victories over Griffin, Mark Bocek and Spencer Fisher. In the process, he began redefining the “decision victory,” shattering the myth that fights that go to the judges’ scorecards are somehow boring and picking up a “Fight of the Night” award in the process.
In April 2008, Edgar faced Gray Maynard in perhaps his only fight we’ve seen that wasn’t a complete barn-burner. Maynard used his size and strength to keep Edgar on the ground for most of the fight, eking out the unanimous decision victory and securing himself a spot near the front of the UFC’s lightweight pack.
The good new is it didn’t take long for Edgar to bounce back.
Just three months later, Edgar bettered former number one contender Hermes Franca to earn his second “Fight of the Night” honors. He was supposed to follow that up with a December 2008 bout against Matt Wiman, who was on a hot streak of his own, at UFC: “Fight for the Troops.”
The fight was not to be. A week and a half before, Edgar blew out his knee in training and was forced to withdraw. Miller took his place, out-wrestled the explosive Wiman, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Which brings us to today and, certainly, Edgar’s biggest challenge to date: former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk. The “Muscle Shark’s” body looks like a He-Man action figure … only six or seven inches taller. If “The Answer” had trouble countering Maynard’s size and strength, how will he adjust to Sherk?
That’s what we intend to find out, come Saturday, May 23 at UFC 98: “Evans vs. Machida,” when Edgar (9-1) takes on Sherk (33-3-1). It’s part of the main card lineup for the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast, airing live at 10:00 p.m. ET from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We recently caught up with Edgar, who for the past year has trained at the Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy (http://www.ricardoalmeida.com/) in Hamilton, N.J., while continuing to serve as an assistant coach to the Rutgers University wrestling team. We talked about the challenges of putting on weight, his fights with Maynard, Franca and Griffin, and what we have to look forward to, come May 23.
He assured us to be ready … because you just might see an all-new Frankie Edgar:
INTERVIEW BEGINT HIER