Edgar opens up on his retirement decision ahead of last bout

KARACHI: MMA legend Frankie Edgar has opened up on his retirement decision ahead of his last bout at UFC 281 on Saturday.

In his first fight since being brutally knocked out by Marlon "Chito" Vera at the same location last year, Edgar, a former lightweight champion and featherweight title contender, will take on Chris Gutierrez at Madison Square Garden.

Many people thought he should put his gloves away because it was his fifth defeat in his previous seven and his fourth time being stopped.

After a year of inactivity, Edgar decided to retire after one final main-card match at the storied New York venue, despite initially seeming eager to continue.

For his part, Gutierrez has no fond memories of the fight and is hoping for a third victory to propel him into the top 15 bantamweights.

"Originally, I thought I would never retire, or at least say it - I was just going to walk away," Edgar said at the UFC 281 media day in New York on Wednesday.

"That was kind of how I wanted to do it because I'm not really an attention guy, I'm not really looking for any shoutouts or anything like that, but this was a way to hold myself accountable. If I say something publicly then I'm sure I'll stick to it. I've made my mind up and yeah, this is it."

Throughout fight week, almost everybody on the card has paid some sort of tribute to Edgar, whose legendary career saw him come within touching distance of becoming a two-weight world champion.

Comments

Submit