Frankie Edgar’s retirement fight unfolded in the worst case scenario for the future UFC hall of famer. At UFC 281 on Saturday past, Chris Gutierrez flatlined Edgar in the first round with a brutal knee leaving him unconscious.
The 36-fight veteran is still trying to process what happened in Maddison Square Garden.
“Obviously, (I’m) heartbroken,” Frankie Edgar said on ‘The Champ and the Tramp’ podcast. “That’s not the way I wanted it to go, but that’s the way it goes. I had a great week, awesome week out there. It was incredible, the love I got from everybody. The UFC gave me love, the little video that they did. From my peers, my peers are the most important. … I was zooming in the back. I felt like I was on in the back. I go out there and boom. Obviously, you saw it. Everybody saw it.”
“It f-cking sucks but how can I complain, to be honest? People were cheering my name the whole time before, during, after. I worked hard to get where I got, like f-cking hard, very hard. I sacrificed a lot in my life. I put my all into my athletic career since Day 1, but who am I to complain? There are people out there who work hard and they just make it by. I know both sides of that. I’m just trying to be grateful for what I accomplished, for the ride I had.”
Frankie Edgar Talks UFC 281 Retirement Loss
The loss marked the third consecutive loss by KO for the 41-year-old having been knocked out by Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera prior to UFC 281. The former lightweight champion had won just two fights out of eight dating back to 2018. With that statistic in mind, it was clear it was the right time for Edgar to hang up the gloves.
Edgar closed the curtain on a memorable career with a record of 24-11-1. The New Jersey native shared the Octagon with some of the sports greatest names such as BJ Penn, Charles Oliveira, Jose Aldo, Benson Henderson, Max Holloway, among many more.
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