Despite 34 fights under his belt and 16 years of wear and tear on his 40-year-old body, Frankie Edgar sees no end in sight for his fighting career.
“The Answer” returns to the Octagon on Saturday, Nov. 6 at UFC 268. The former lightweight champion and featherweight title challenger has had a hall-of-fame run in the UFC and does not have anything left to prove as an MMA fighter. Now, in his fortieth decade on earth, some might assume that the sacrifices he has made over a legendary career have him more than ready to start planning his life away from the meat grinder that is MMA.
However, even though he has lost four of his last six, and was knocked out for the first, second, and third time in three of those defeats, Edgar (24-9-1) expects to be fighting for quite a while longer. The eighth-ranked 135-pounder is so secure in that expectation, that he hasn’t even seriously pondered life after fighting.
Frankie Edgar expects many more cage fights after he returns to the Octagon at UFC 268 this Saturday
“I’ll never put an end date on anything. I don’t know if I’ll ever even retire, or make it officially, at least. I don’t know if I’m gonna be one of those guys. I’m just going out there and having fun,” Edgar said as a guest on the Real Quick with Mike Swick podcast.
“I still enjoy doing what I do. If my body allows it, man I’ll do this for a long time. I really don’t have any other plans, to be honest with you. I do enjoy going to the gym. I enjoy pushing myself. I don’t enjoy dieting, but I like the way it makes me look and feel. During fight camp, you feel like a million dollars. You’re training at such a high level. You’re putting only good things in your body.”
The New Jersey native will face thirteenth-ranked bantamweight Marlon Vera in the main card opening matchup at UFC 268 on Saturday night. The event takes place inside New York City’s fabled Madison Square Garden. The main card pay-per-view, which will cost US $69.99, will kick off at 10 pm ET and air exclusively on ESPN+.
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