CONGRATULATIONS TO FRANK EDGAR!! All-Star Sports Academy has a champion in the UFC!!
By Thomas Gerbasi
Frankie Edgar had been here before - on the wrestling mats for Toms River High School East and Clarion University, and now, thousands of miles away in Abu Dhabi.
He had just given everything he had in 25 minutes against the best lightweight fighter ever, BJ Penn, and now he just had to wait for Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer to render a decision that would determine whether he would have to settle for second as he did in high school and college, or if he would finally have the spotlight all to himself at the top.
50-45 was the first score, one met with oohs and aahs from Yas Island to Hilo and the Jersey shore, mainly because in a fight as close as this one was, it was shocking that someone saw it as a shutout
“I talked to my friends back home, and they thought I was getting screwed when they heard that one,” laughed Edgar. “But when I heard it, I just tried staying positive, and that was the best thing I had done through this whole camp. I thought, ‘That’s gotta be me, I know I won a bunch of rounds.’”
Score number two - 48-47.
“In wrestling in (high school) States, my biggest goal was to win a State title, I took second,” recalled Edgar. “Winning a national title in high school, I took second; to become an All-American, I lost in triple overtime in the All-American round.”
Score number three 49-46.
“For the winner,” bellowed Buffer, “annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd NEW!!!!”
For Frankie Edgar, UFC lightweight champion of the world, everything went blank.
“I’ve been there so many times that this was just unbelievable – I didn’t know how to feel,” he said. “I had been there so many times and disappointed so many times.”
Not this time, and while Edgar’s win over Penn was rightfully seen as an upset considering ‘The Prodigy’s dominance over the division since 2008, it came as no surprise to Team Edgar, who approached the entire fight and the training camp leading up to it with a calm that made it look like Edgar had been in 10 championship fights before. Forget having a deer in the headlights look due to fighting a future Hall of Famer or being overwhelmed by the UFC 112 media crush. Edgar was unmoved by any of it, even getting in a pre-fight snooze before the biggest bout of his career.
“I just believed in my preparation,” he said. “Every fight I get more and more comfortable – the week leading up to it, the night before, the day of. I took the best nap ever the day of the fight. (Laughs) I slept two hours straight and I could have slept more. Usually your heart’s racing, thinking about the fight, but I was calm, and I knew I had done everything I could do to win the fight, so there was no reason to add extra stress to the whole thing. Obviously, I was still nervous and still afraid to lose, but I was really confident.”
That confidence showed in the fight, as Edgar utilized a stick and move strategy that kept Penn off balance all night. Penn was not blown out of the fight by any means, as he landed hard counters when the two traded on the inside, but it was Edgar who dictated the pace and location of the fight, even scoring two quick takedowns for good measure. What may have been the most impressive aspect of the fight for Edgar though, wasn’t his discipline and strategy, but his stamina, as he kept the pace of the fight high for 25 minutes. Not surprisingly, the humble champion deflects the praise and directs it to his team.
“My intensity’s always the same,” he said. “I try to go full blow every time I do a strength and conditioning 
workout as far as intensity, but I definitely added some more rounds on (in this camp). I worked with Brian Blue out of All Star Sports Academy in Toms River, and he’s a young kid, has got an open mind, and he comes to me with new stuff. I’ve been working out with him for over a year and a half now and I don’t think I’ve done the same workout twice. So it was that, and my boxing coach Mark Henry is just on me. He doesn’t just hold pads in front of you like a lot of guys do – he moves with you and works out with us. He makes you move constantly while doing pads, and I think that’s the trick. You’ve got to train the way you want to fight.”
And Edgar did everything he wanted to last Saturday.
“You can’t go into a fight with BJ Penn and say you’re gonna stop him because you’ll totally mess yourself up mentally,” he said. “So I went into that fight knowing that I’m gonna have to fight five hard rounds, stay active, and execute my gameplan. But I’m very critical of myself and I definitely saw some things that I need to sharpen up, and that just shows me that I’ve got room to grow, and I’m happy about that.”
Continually elevating his game has been Edgar’s MO throughout his UFC career. He came into the UFC in 2007 as a scrappy wrestler with a lot of heart. By the time his 2009 bout with Sean Sherk arrived, he had developed a refined standup game that opened plenty of eyes around the MMA world. And as far as he’s concerned, the victory over Sherk was the one that gave him the confidence to rely on his standup strategy-wise for the Penn fight.
“It’s just a natural progression of everything,” he said. “By no means did it just come overnight. Every fight, even before I was in the UFC, I was willing to throw my hands, so I think I had that naturally on my side. But I think it was the Sherk fight, where I knew that a takedown wasn’t gonna come easy, so I knew I had to rely on my boxing. And that really gave me the confidence that I could do it at anytime.”
And today, he’s a world champion, with all the perks and perils that come with it. On the plus side, he’s the talk of the fight game, and he’s got a nice shiny belt on his couch that he promises he won’t be wearing around the shore this summer. “The win means much more than the belt to me,” he smiles. “The belt will be for my kids when I’m old.” But on the other side, despite being the king overlooking his kingdom of contenders…
“Heavy lies the crown,” he interjects with a chuckle. “I just got a nice bull’s eye painted on my chest.”
“But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”
You know he wouldn’t, but there is a growing list of contenders lining up for the next shot at the belt, one of main responsibilities of being the man at the top.
“Right now, I’m not even thinking about it to be honest with you,” he said when asked about what’s next and his thoughts on possible challengers like Gray Maynard and Kenny Florian. “I’m sure my coaches are, though. (Laughs) Both of those guys are well deserving – Florian just runs through people, and Maynard, he beat me last and it was my only loss. So obviously those two guys are deserving. Even BJ is deserving for a rematch – he’s a legend. So whoever the UFC decides, I’ll start training for.”
But for now, it’s time for Frankie Edgar to sit back, relax, and enjoy being number one.
