The wear and tear of a 20-year combat sports career are starting to have some major effect on the body of Frankie Edgar.
UFC 268 capped off what has been a difficult last four years in the storied career of the former UFC lightweight champion. Inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the New Jersey native suffered a third-round knockout loss to ranked and rising bantamweight talent Marlon Vera. It was the fourth time he’s been stopped by strikes since 2018.
“The Answer’s” 3-5 run over the last four years surely must be weighing on his psyche after the 40-year-old has had a great deal of success inside the Octagon. However, mentally dealing with the frustrations from his recent setbacks isn’t the only thing that Edgar (24-10) has had to battle through in recent years.
Frankie Edgar talks a worsening back and recent hip replacement surgery
In a Tuesday interview with the “>Champ and the Tramp podcast, Edgar spoke about ongoing back issues he’s dealt with for some time. It’s a problem he had surgery to correct when he was 18, and while it improved the situation enough to help get him through his collegiate wrestling and much of his fighting career, he has started to develop “nerve issues” on one said that have started to make daily life difficult.
I can’t say it was a mistake [not taking care of the issue sooner], I just f*cking fought. I wrestled with it in college, I fought for 20 f*cking years, so it did its job. But I need to get that taken care of, regardless of fighting or not, it’s f*cking with my life,” Edgar said [h /t MMAFighting].
An upcoming doctor visit will decide if his nerve issues will require surgery, however, that procedure may still pale in comparison to what Edgar recently endured. That being to recover, and return to the Octagon, after hip replacement surgery in April. At first glance, some might suspect returning from a surgery that should be career-ending is why he lost this past weekend. However, he says that isn’t so and his hip felt better than ever during his most recent Octagon appearance.
I never really made it public,” Edgar said about the surgery. “That’s an accomplishment in itself, coming back from that. That’s something I wanted to prove to myself. A lot of people think you get something like that, it’s the end of something. And not only did I do it, I f*cking did it quickly. I felt amazing, my hip f*cking felt amazing.
“The Answer” is still not ready to retire
Of course, after another highlight-reel KO loss fans will wonder if the former featherweight title contender will ponder retirement more seriously than he has previously. The short answer is no. He isn’t thinking about retirement right now, nor is even thinking about his next fight.
Everybody’s going to bring up the f*cking retirement and this and that, and I’m not gonna answer it because I don’t know what it is, honestly. I just want to know, when I do retire, I’m never coming back. I’m not ready for that yet. I’m not ready to make that decision yet,” said Edgar.
But this is probably the first time after a fight where I’m not thinking about my next fight. I’m not thinking about getting back in the gym. I know I’m never gonna stop training no matter what I decide, and I will be back in the gym soon just because I’m addicted to that. But I’m not thinking of it, and this is the first time probably in my fight career that that’s happened.
