MMA

Frankie Edgar injury forces him out of UFC 218 title fight

Published

6 years ago

November 8, 2017

Frankie Edgar’s bid to join Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor and Georges St. Pierre as only the fifth 2-division champion in UFC history will have to wait.

Combate was the first to report that Edgar suffered a facial injury during camp while preparing to fight current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway on December 2nd. While it’s currently unclear if the UFC will seek a replacement for Edgar, Holloway has made it clear that he still wants to ‘Bless’ Detroit with his presence at UFC 218.

Detroit, you guys are a bunch of tough mfers. I met many of you last month when we visited. You guys deserve the best fight card of the year and youre still gonna get it. I'm fighting no matter what

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) November 9, 2017

He even left us with this classic Detroit Pistons reference.

Santa is still coming early to Detroit, so get ready. Malice in the palace part 2 if we have to. I'll see you soon

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) November 9, 2017

As of right now, most of the featherweights in the top 10 currently have an opponent lined up. #3 ranked Ricardo Lamas is set to face #1 ranked Jose Aldo next month in Winnipeg; #4 ranked Cub Swanson is scheduled to take on #6 Brian Ortega on the previous weekend in Fresno. #5 ranked Chan Sung Jung is out until 2018 with a knee injury while #7 ranked Yair Rodriguez is currently without a fight but he lost his lost contest to Edgar. How about #8 ranked Jeremy Stephens? He’s coming off a major win over Gilbert Melendez but he’s lost 3 of his last 5, one of those being against Holloway. Darren Elkins and Renato Moicano round out the top 10 and neither man is likely getting a title shot anytime soon.

If the UFC does decide to keep Holloway on the card, expect Aldo to be pulled out of the Winnipeg card to face Holloway in an immediate rematch of their UFC 212 title bout or either Swanson or Ortega getting pulled from the Fresno card. If not, we could see Holloway versus Edgar delayed until a PPV in early 2018. For the sake of a MMA thirsty city like Detroit, let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Here’s your current card for UFC 218 as it stands tonight: