UFC veteran Frankie Edgar intends to fight again in 2021, following a vicious knockout loss to Cory Sandhagen on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Edgar (24-9-1) fell awkwardly to the canvas after he was knocked out cold by a Sandhagen flying knee just 28 seconds in. The 39-year-old eventually walked out of the Octagon on his own accord, but admitted to ESPN on Thursday he still doesn’t remember doing so. He also said he temporarily forgot who his opponent was after the fight.
“It’s part of the game, I’m going to share it,” Edgar said. “It’s not something I’m proud of, obviously. Some people may think it’s scary but I’ve dealt with this kind of thing before and if you’re in the fight game, you’ve probably heard these stories before.
“I was in the back. I remember sitting around the doctor, [coaches Mark Henry and Ricardo Almeida] were next to me and I’m like, ‘Damn, Mark. What happened?’ He’s like, ‘You fought.’ And I just couldn’t remember who the f— I fought. I’m like, ‘Who’d I fight?’ And he said, ‘Sandhagen.’ And I’m trying to remember training for the guy and I could not remember training for him. I was like, ‘Since when was I supposed to fight him?’ And he’s like, ‘F—ing two months. We’ve been training for two months.'”
When a physician asked Edgar the date, he initially replied September or December. He said his memory did return as he was being transported to a hospital to undergo a cat scan. He was released that evening and flew home to New Jersey the following day.
“I remember the warmup, I even remember the first 20 seconds of the fight,” Edgar said. “This is what I’ve been doing my whole life. I understand the risk.”
Edgar remains one of the top bantamweights in the world, and could have been next in line for a title shot had he defeated Sandhagen, who is 28.
At the same time, he is likely in the twilight of his career. Edgar did not suffer a single knockout loss during the first 14 years of his career, but has now been knocked out three times since 2018. The former lightweight champion did not specify how much time he feels he has left in MMA, but said neither he or his team are contemplating retirement.
“Losing sucks. I hate it. Everyone hates it,” Edgar said. “You almost don’t want to do anything after, you know? You have these thoughts like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I want to do this.’ And Mark told me, ‘Dude, what are you talking about? One win and you erase that loss.’ So, I’m not thinking of stopping any time soon. At least not now, not after this one.
“I don’t want to be the guy that’s someone has to tell that I need to walk away, but it may take that. I don’t know. The type of person I am, it may take my coaches and my wife to be like, ‘Oh, it’s time to walk away.’ I just know that time is not now. And I feel like they know that time is not now.”
Edgar said he’ll likely look to compete around July, and he intends to remain at 135 pounds.