The UFC is targeting a big time matchup in the bantamweight division. Ariel Helwani reported this week that the promotion was looking at booking a fight between former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (24-9-1) and “Suga” Sean O’Malley (14-1).
Originally, the UFC wanted to book this fight for November at UFC 268. O’Malley turned down the proposed date due to conflicts and said that he was treated terribly by the promotion’s match maker for declining the bout.Â
That said, the word is that the promotion is still targeting a matchup between the two men. In terms of name recognition, this would be the biggest fight of Sean O’Malley’s career.
In his last fight at UFC 264, O’Malley took out promotional newcomer Kris Moutinho. After the fight, O’Malley called out some of the elite guys in the division, however, Edgar was not one of the men mentioned.
That said, Edgar makes a ton of sense for O’Malley. He’s a former UFC champion and he has the skillset to really push The Suga Show. If O’Malley wants to climb the rankings quickly, this is a perfect fight.
Last UFC Stand for Edgar?
Frankie Edgar still has a lot of fight left in him. The former lightweight champion is now competing in his third weight class in the UFC as he’s trying to once again capture gold that has evaded him since 2012.
As mentioned, Edgar became a star when he became the UFC lightweight champion. That said, Edgar was always undersized for a lightweight. Eventually, Edgar moved to 145 pounds and tried to become a champion at featherweight.
Edgar had three cracks at the UFC featherweight title and came up short in each contest. For the final move of his career, Edgar decided to drop down to 135 pounds and compete as a bantamweight.
In reality, this is the best weight class for Edgar and who knows what his career would’ve been like if he would have been at 135 the entire time. He made his bantamweight debut last year and picked up a win over Pedro Munhoz.
Edgar lost in a UFC title eliminator earlier this year to Cory Sandhagen by first round knockout in 28 seconds. That said, Edgar is still ready to try again and he’s ready to derail The Suga Show.