Frank Edgar Interview

Ben Zeidler recently caught up with Frank Edgar to discuss his undefeated career, Sean Sherk’s steroid complication, and his next fight. Originally conducted for MMA Madness

Ben Zeidler: I noticed that you're from Toms River. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you got into MMA while living in Jersey?

Frank Edgar: I pretty much lived here my whole life. I started fighting out of college in May of 2005. I found a good gym which had just been taken over by Kurt Pellegrino. I ended up with them and I've been there ever since.

BZ: So I guess you were too young for those great little league teams of the 90s?

FE: Yeah, I know a couple of kids on the teams. One of them just got drafted.

BZ: Ah, who was that?

FE: His name's Todd Frazier.

BZ: Did you play little league?

FE: (Laughs) Yeah, I played a few years. I think everyone plays little league growing up.

BZ: In your UFC debut, Tyson Griffin locked you into a pretty deep knee bar. How did you manage to fight through this and not tap out?

FE: You know, I just bit down on my mouth piece and toughed it out. That was it.

BZ: Tell us a little bit about the Spencer Fisher win. I'm assuming that went like you wanted it to.

FE: Yeah, the Spencer Fisher fight went pretty good. The game plan going in was to put him on his back. I knew I could stand with him if I had to. So I got into the first round and I didn't know I could fight like that, so I just kept doing what was working.

BZ: With a recent win over Spencer Fisher, who would you like to fight next?

FE: They kinda just tell me who I'm going to fight next. I just want it to be a step up the ladder and towards the belt.

BZ: Do feel like you get better with each fight or are you relatively stable in what you learn and pick up?

FE: I'm not even near my full ability. I'm about two and a half years in so I have a long way to go. I went back and watched my first UFC fight and I'm a lot better since then.

BZ: Your next fight hasn't been announced yet, but assuming you still train pretty hard. What do you do to stay in shape?

FE: Training for a fight is a little different than general training. I'm an assistant coach for wrestling at Rutgers [University] so I'll hit up that practice. There's some boxing and jiu-jitsu places around so I'll hit up their practices too.

BZ: Being undefeated in your MMA career, how many more wins do you think you have to get before you earn some title consideration.

FE: You know, I don't pay attention to too much of that, but I'd imagine that three or four more wins would do it. It depends on who I fight, obviously, but I imagine that would do it.

BZ: Where would you rank yourself among the 155s?

FE: I don't really know. I don't want to give myself a number because I know I can compete with anyone in the division.

BZ: What do you think about Sean Sherk testing positive for steroids?

FE: Yeah, you know he's adamant saying that he didn't do it so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. You know, it's no sweat off my back. He'll be back in a few months and he'll be right back in it. He won't have missed a beat.

BZ: Can you give us a prediction for the BJ Penn-Joe Stevenson fight?

FE: Sure. I think that if Penn comes into shape, he's on another level than anyone in the division so I'd give him the advantage. I think if Joe can take the fight into the later rounds, then that's his best bet to win.

BZ: Any sponsors you'd like to thank?

FE: Yeah mmainstructional.com and frankedgar.com.

BZ: Anything to say to the fans?

FE: Yeah, I just want to say thanks for the support and continue to keep watching. Hopefully, I'll keep entertaining.