One of the more exciting divisions in the UFC right now is the bantamweight division. Just in the past few months, there has been a slew of incredible fights and a new champion was crowned. The division is stacked and loaded with talent.
One of those guys is the former UFC lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar (24-8-1). The Answer made his bantamweight debut back in August when he defeated Pedro Munhoz in an excellent fight. This is the third UFC weight class for Edgar.
With the win and his name recognition, Edgar established himself near the top of the division. Edgar is also teammates with Marlon Moraes. Moraes is another top ten bantamweight who fought for the UFC title just last year.
Moraes is coming off of a loss a few weeks ago at the hands of Cory Sandhagen (13-2). Sandhagen bounced back from his first loss in the UFC to destroy Marlon Moraes. It was the best performance of Sandhagen’s career.
After the fight was over, Sandhagen had a couple of names on his wish list. One of the names being former UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. While the other was Frankie Edgar. This got Edgar’s attention, and he wants the fight.
Per his manager Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00), Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) has asked the UFC to fight Cory Sandhagen (@cors_life) next. Nos. 2 and 5 in the division. Sandhagen, coming off that big Moraes TKO, hasn’t really discussed his next move with UFC yet, I’m told.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 22, 2020
Will the UFC make it happen?
Either one of the options that Sandhagen mentioned would be good options for the UFC. Dillashaw was the champion before he was suspended by USADA. You can expect him to be right back in the mix upon his return.
However, two years off is a long time off. We don’t know what kind of TJ Dillashaw we are going to see when he comes back. We know exactly what we are going to get from Frankie Edgar. Edgar looked rejuvenated in his last UFC victory at bantamweight.
If the UFC books Sandhagen – Edgar, the winner would be first in line to fight for the title. At UFC 256, Petr Yan is defending his title against Aljamain Sterling. It makes sense that their be a title eliminator around the same time. I think Edgar – Sandhagen is going to be the UFC‘s first option.