Undersized UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has proven over and over he's more than capable"Honestly, I'd like to see [Edgar] move to 145 and fight Aldo," White said following Saturday night's UFC 136 post-event press conference at Houston's Toyota Center.
"All these other guys that [Edgar] fights are so much bigger than him," White said. "I think that fighting out of your weightclass isn't healthy. I don't think it's healthy long-term.
"I don't think that guys that fight out of their weightclass and fight a weightclass above them and take damage can have the longevity that other fighters can have. I think when you fight with guys that are your own size, you don't take the punishment that you take when you fight bigger guys."
"I'm not going to make him do it. Who am I to say, 'Yeah, you can't stay here. You beat everybody in this division'? It's a tough argument to have with him."
"Think about all the fights that we've seen over the past 10 years or how many fights you've seen in your life where a guy goes out and gets hurt as bad as he did in the first round. That's movie s---. That stuff doesn't really happen in real life. There's two guys I've seen do it: Arturo Gatti and Frankie Edgar."What he did the last time and this time, he's an amazing human being. He's an incredible athlete, and he's got a heart the size of this room."
There are two or 3 fighters at the moment who could potentially be the first person to hold two belts in different weight classes in the UFC. Edgar has a good chance.
I would pick Frankie to win that fight. Would that be enough to make him the #1 p4p fighter? He would be the only fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two belts, and he'd have two wins over Penn, the only guy to beat, by tko, Maynard, and would then have a win over Aldo.
There are still a lot of great LW's, I say wait fir him to lose or win a few more at LW before going down. Seriously, if we are talking champion vs champion there are a couple other better matchups that I think we all would agree are better than this. Not that it wouldn't be a good fight, but let them both be dominant for a while to build their names more. Us UGers know them both really well, but casuals don't.
Frankie has beaten every 155er he's fought (including tonight's payback for his only loss against Gray). He's fine at lightweight until proven otherwise. No one, not even BJ (considered by some to be the greatest 155er ever), has been able to do that. No need for Frankie to drop weight class.
Dogmeat 1 - I've always felt Dana has been wrong when it comes to trying to get fighters to drop weight classes. If a fighter is already cutting some weight to make a class and is already successful then it is highly unlikely they will be more successful if they drop down to a lighter class. In almost all cases fighters who have done so have ended up with more losses and ko's than they did at their original class.
In fact generally most fighters find more success by allowing themselves to gain weight and move up a class as they get older. You don't have to look any further than guys like Anderson Silva or overeem to see good examples of this. By contrast there are no really great fighters who dropped under their preferred weight class later in their career and found much success.
yea but Frankie was at lw because they didnt have a 145 at the time
yeah i would have to disagree with dfw here, I bet frankie walks around at 160-165, so he's a natural 155er. Guys like maynard and some other bigger 155ers probably walk around at 170-175, maybe they are the ones who need to move up and fight in thier natural weight class
Jason - yeah i would have to disagree with dfw here, I bet frankie walks around at 160-165, so he's a natural 155er. Guys like maynard and some other bigger 155ers probably walk around at 170-175, maybe they are the ones who need to move up and fight in thier natural weight class
Isnt the "rule of thumb" normally you fight a weight class down? So if you're 170- you cut to 155, if you're 160-165 you cut to 45 etc
Also, Weight cutting kills your body and Maynard is a 190lb 55er so I think Frankie should stay
Jason - yeah i would have to disagree with dfw here, I bet frankie walks around at 160-165, so he's a natural 155er. Guys like maynard and some other bigger 155ers probably walk around at 170-175, maybe they are the ones who need to move up and fight in thier natural weight class
The difference again is Maynard would fight at 155 if there was a 145 division when he started with the UFC. Frankie is at lw because there was no 145 division and he had too much success at lw to go down. I prefer him at lw but based on longevity and Frankie's health and well being i can certainly see where Dana is coming from. I would prefer everyone to fight at a more natural weight and not cut 25 percent of their body weight but its the way it is. Frankie isnt even a small lw, he just flat out isnt a lw
Considering he was getting muscled around by an emaciated Kenny Florian, I'm not sure how well Aldo would do against some of the relentless wrestlers at 155.
omgjoshjames - I would pick Frankie to win that fight. Would that be enough to make him the #1 p4p fighter? He would be the only fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two belts, and he'd have two wins over Penn, the only guy to beat, by tko, Maynard, and would then have a win over Aldo. <img src="/images/phone/droid.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>
Hell yeah that makes him #1. Holding two belts at once = Epic Win.
