Frankie Edgar is 41 years old. He\s a former UFC champion and he’s about to retire. Edgar has been active in MMA since 2005.
His career spans through decades. He made it into UFC in 2007 and has stayed there ever since.
Edgar has had a rough time in the cage since 2018. He lost 4 out of last five – with the singular victory coming by way of split decision while he was knocked out several times by front kick, flying knee and now another knee.
Edgar was facing 31 year old Chris Gutierrez in Madison Square Garden. Gutierrez has an MMA record consisting of 18 wins and 4 losses (2 draws).
No fairytale of New York here. 🥺
El Guapo @CGutierrezMMA spoils the retirement party with a VICIOUS knee KO! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/4my9tRZIpf
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) November 13, 2022
He last lost to Raoni Barcelos in 2018.
Edgar seemed crushed by the outcome of the contest.
https://twitter.com/FireMMAVids/status/1591640608204115968
“Love this sport. Didn’t want to go out like that; This sport’s a f**ing bitch. My family’s here. That’s what matters”
https://twitter.com/FightingLabFL/status/1591641267401887747?s=20&t=KX4boWyhPTtTRJTVo6yKgw
It was nothing but respect between Frankie Edgar and Chris Gutiérrez in the post-fight aftermath 🙏#UFC281 pic.twitter.com/Z3NusEzCZg
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 13, 2022
Ahead of the event, Edgar talked a little bit about his origin story:
“My first MMA fight was in the Bronx in 2005, an unsanctioned event not too far from here. That kind of makes things full circle for sure,” the future Hall-of-Famer and Toms River native, 41, said.
“After I graduated college (at PennWest Clarion), I started training … and had that first fight in the Bronx. I won that fight − and I broke my face actually in the fight. I still wanted to do it. So right then and there I knew if I was crazy enough to want to do this after breaking my face, this was it for me.”
“It’s awesome. It’s our backyard, being from Jersey and coming up here as a kid, watching wrestling events or concerts. It’s called ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena’ for a reason. Ali-Frazier was here. It seems fitting.”
“Knowing this one’s the last one, I’m trying to make this special, trying to take it all in, but that’s kind of hard to do when you know someone’s trying to beat you up on Saturday,” he laughed.