Former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar has always been one of the quieter, more humble and non-confrontational fighters outside the cage. However, he has become more and more outspoken in recent times since one particular fighter managed to talk his way into earning some pretty big bucks… and he isn’t the only one.
“You’re seeing it across the board in all weight classes – guys are getting more vocal,” Edgar explained to MMAFighting.com. “They’re just seeing what it’s done for Conor (McGregor, UFC featherweight champion), so they’re trying to kind of make their voice heard. I think that’s what (Jose) Aldo is doing.”
Edgar is set to face Aldo for the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 in a rematch of their UFC 156 meeting, which Aldo won via decision. But despite coming up short in their first fight, Edgar is confident he will put in a better showing this time around and, having put together five wins since the Aldo loss, the New Jersey boy certainly has the stats to back up his claims.
“Arguably, you could say I haven’t lost a round since me and Aldo fought,” said Edgar. “He’s just been in some either pretty boring (fights), or wars since our fight. So, I think I’m the one who looks like he’s evolved more than Aldo has. So yeah, I don’t know. I think he’s just talking the fight up.”
Aldo hasn’t been shy of taking a few verbal shots against Edgar leading up to their highly-anticipated rematch, but Frankie remains unphased.
“This guy is like I said. People are trying to talk. He’s just not that great at doing it,” Edgar said. “He’s just trying to create buzz, and I get what he’s trying to do.”
UFC 200 takes place July 9th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
