Frankie Edgar (17-4-1) möter Cub Swanson (21-5) under kommande helg och om det blir vinst då, så vill inte Edgar ge UFC ett annat val än att ge honom en titelchans.
Frankie Edgar har aldrig varit mycket för trash-talk, utan medger själv att han håller sig till sina styrkor – att slåss. Dock kunde han bland annat medge att han ser Conor McGregor som lite av ett hype som ger divisionen mer popularitet och att han inte tänker ge UFC ett val om att han ska bli nästa man på en titelchans efter helgens match.
På måndagens MMA Hour med Ariel Helwani sa Edgar:
”You just never know the landscape and what things are going to happen, and who is going to say what to create some attention, what Dana’s thinking or Lorenzo’s thinking. I just go out there and do my job and win fights. If I win impressively, it has a way of taking care of things. If I go out there and perform like I want to, everything will go my way,”
”All these guys are talking. [McGregor]’s kind of setting the pace for everybody. Chael [Sonnen] definitely did, but Chael’s kinda been in a sport for the while when he did it. Conor kinda came out of nowhere and did it. People are taking notice. ’Wow, this gets me some attention. This gets me in the forefront.’ People are taking notice and starting to open their mouths more.”
Om McGregors stigande popularitet (och samtidiga ökändhet) hade Edgar detta att säga:
”You know what? He’s doing well, he sells. Numbers sell. Controversy sells. I’m not a jealous guy. I’m not going to hate on the kid or anything. Listen, people are talking about our division because of this guy. Let’s keep it real.”
Om sin nästa motståndare Cub Swanson och hur Swanson kommer in i matchen med sex raka segrar bakom sig tycker Edgar:
”I think he’s hot. Some people get on a streak. It’s like a team. A team gets on a streak, they’re hot. That’s what he’s got right now. I think his confidence is really high. When you have a lot of confidence behind you, the ball keeps rolling. The guys he’s fought, too, are perfect for him as well. I think [his boxing] is good. It’s solid. What makes it really good is its unpredictableness. Obviously he’s a hard puncher, so being unpredictable and being able to hit hard, that’s tricky. You might see an opening, but that might be what he wants.”
Fjäderviktsdivisionen måste vara en av de svåraste att ranka just nu med många som är både sugna och passande att få utmana titeln. Edgar ser dock sin väg dit, att helt inte ge UFC ett val.
”They haven’t told me,” säger Edgar om han kommer få en titelmatch efter en potentiell vinst. ”I’ve got to not give them a choice. That’s the best way to do it. Not give them a choice.”
”I should be, I should be, but you don’t always get what you deserve. We’ll see. I can’t focus past this fight. If I do that, I lose and all this means nothing. I gotta go out there and perform and make it the best fight ever. Easier said than done. It doesn’t always work out like that, but if I do that – it’s the most exciting, the most emphatic, like you said – they can’t deny me, right?”
Efter en potentiell vinst, tycker Ni Edgar är nästa man på en titelchans?
