Frankie Edgar rips UFC chief for saying he ‘refused’ McGregor fight
FILE – This Nov. 23, 2014, file photo shows Frankie Edgar, top, striking Cub Swanson in a featherweight mixed martial arts bout during the UFC Fight Night at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas, File)
Frankie Edgar has had enough.
Shunned once again for a shot against UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, the title contender lashed out at UFC President Dana White on what he feels is the promotion’s bias in favor of the Irish titlist.
In a report of MMA Fighting, Edgar said that the probability of a McGregor bout was raised with his manager Ali Abdelaziz, but his camp had to turn the fight down as he is still recovering from his groin injury.
READ: McGregor, Diaz trade verbal shots before UFC 196 showdown
But what pisses him more was White’s “insinuation” that he refused to take the match.
“I’m even more pissed that Dana’s insinuating that I ‘refused’ to take this fight, which is (expletive). Just because they asked me doesn’t mean they were going to give it to me because guess what, in July they asked me to take the (UFC 189) fight on 15 day’s notice, which of course I accepted, and I still didn’t get it,” the 34-year-old said.
“This dude, they were going to let this guy hold the 145-pound title, go up to 55, now two weight classes are being held up. And now they’re saying he’s going to go up to 70. This is a circus. The ‘C’ in UFC stands for ‘Conor.’ This guy runs the show.”
READ: UFC champ Dos Anjos injured, out of McGregor bout
McGregor will face Nate Diaz, who replaced injured UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, in UFC 197 this March 5. It would give McGregor a shot on holding two belts in two weight divisions, a feat unheard of in the promotion.
The Irish’s decision to go up in weight class left Edgar, the number two contender in the featherweight division out in the cold once more.
But Edgar feels that dve if he did accept the fight, the bout would still have been given to Diaz.
READ: Edgar challenges ‘scared’ McGregor: ‘Let’s make this happen’
“I have a feeling that if I had said ‘Yes,’ or if Ali had texted back ‘Yes,’ that fight still would have went to Nate Diaz,” he said. “I think Nate Diaz was the fight they were trying to make since the beginning.”
Edgar also feels that this may impact his future shot at McGregor, an opponent he has chased for quite a time now.
“From what I hear, they contacted Nate even before they contacted me. But now Dana wants to go around saying that I ‘refused’ to take this fight, and I don’t know if he’s going to try to use it against me in the future when another opportunity comes up where I can fight for the belt, and he’s going to say, ‘Well, you had your opportunity and you said no.’,” he said.
