In April of 2010, BJ Penn was king of the lightweights. There was no end in sight for his reign at 155 pounds. He was coming off two demolitions of Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. He faced off against Frankie Edgar in April of 2010 in what was deemed a mere formality. To everyone's shock, it went the distance and Edgar was crowned the new champion. The fallout came quickly. Most fans thought Penn (myself included) won the fight. To make things worse, Douglas Crosby (MMA judge) scored a razor the fight 50-45 in favor of Edgar. Even Edgar admitted he didn't win 5 rounds. To further stake his claim to incompetency, Crosby then went on a drunken trolling tirade (not kidding) on the Underground forums to try and “defend” his scoring. He only succeeded in riling up an already riled up MMA fanbase. Immediate rematch was scheduled four months later and Zombie Penn showed up. Edgar decisively won the fight and the controversy was over and we had a decisive champion. Or so we thought.
In January of 2011, Edgar squared off with Gray Maynard. Maynard was/is a big wrestler and had handled Edgar the first time they fought in April of 2008 to a 3 round decision. Maynard clipped Edgar in round 1 (10-7 round imo) and looked to be on his way towards a KO win. Edgar rallied back and we were treated to a great fight. Maynard, imo, should have won this fight. Surprise, surprise...the fight is ruled a majority draw. Rematch is scheduled for May of 2011. Both guys are injured going into the fight and it is eventually postponed. The fight happens in October of 2011. Again, Maynard hurts him in the first round and Edgar rallies back. Edgar ends up clipping Maynard and records the fourth round TKO victory.
Edgar is then scheduled to face off against Benson Henderson, the former WEC champion at 155 pounds, in February of 2012. Henderson controlled the action, did more damage and Edgar seemed flummoxed for all 5 rounds. Judges score the fight for Henderson. Again, close fight but clear win for Henderson. Unanimously. Most MMA sites score it for Henderson. Edgar disagrees at the post fight conference, noting he gave rematches to Penn and Maynard and that he deserves the same. A couple of days go by and Whites eventually agrees. Immediate rematch is set up between Henderson/Edgar.
Now.........it's hard to argue this rematch due to the fact that there are no other clear challengers. Anthony Pettis has only won 2 fights in a row, Jim Miller was recently manhandled by Henderson and Nate Diaz has said he doesn't want to fight Edgar due to them both training under Renzo Gracie. But why not Diaz/Henderson (if Diaz wins) in late fall? Why not Pettis/Henderson 2 in a rematch of one of 2010's best fights? Is every close fight from here on out going to require an immediate rematch? In the last 2.5 years, there have been 4 men that will have fought for the title at 155 pounds. FOUR. The division has been held up due to injuries and controversial scoring.
The problem is that Edgar lacks the power and size at 155 (per Edgar, he cuts maybe 3 or 4 pounds to fight at 155. Guys like Henderson and Maynard are cutting from the high 170's.) pounds to hurt guys consistently. Once he gets them down, his size prevents him from doing damage and/or holding them there. With these factors against him, he is relegated to point fighting. He will land a quick jab or punch and dance out of the pocket. A quick takedown leads to Edgar standing up and re-engaging in the standup. This is no disrespect to Edgar (he has an incredible chin and heart) but he's fighting out of a weight class. He needs to go down to 145 or even 135 where his punches will cause more damage. A weight class where he can take guys down and hurt them. The wars he has been in will take years off of his career. He's getting punched routinely by much bigger men.
And here's what nobody is talking about: what if Edgar wins a close decision in the summer? Immediate, immediate rematch? Why wouldn't Henderson deserve a rematch? This could/would be a trilogy between 2 men in less than a year. Diaz, Miller, Pettis, Maynard (after a couple of wins), Gilbert Melendez (if he ever gets out of StrikeForce), etc. deserve their shot too.
It's time for Edgar to go down a division (or 2) and chase history. BJ Penn and Randy Couture (Dan Henderson won two titles in Pride) are the only 2 men to hold titles in 2 different weight classes. Edgar should be looking to become the 3rd man in UFC history to win 2 belts in 2 different weight classes. This is a chance to become a legend that few men will ever have the chance to achieve.
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