Frankie Edgar talks getting snubbed on UFC 189 interim title shot

Frankie Edgar was ready to hijack UFC President Dana White’s airplane to campaign for a title shot after dominating Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night 66. Unfortunately for the former lightweight champion, the path to the featherweight title has a few new twists and turns.

Conor McGregor (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) was set to challenge for Jose Aldo’s featherweight belt at this Saturday’s UFC 189 event. When Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) was forced out of the bout due to a rib injury it was Chad Mendes (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), not Edgar (19-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC) that got called up for an interim title fight against McGregor.

The decision was disappointing for Edgar, who is undefeated in four fights since losing to Aldo in his first bid for featherweight gold.

Edgar discussed the situation with Inside MMA and explained his thoughts on the situation.

“Early on, when I heard that he was injured, we threw our hat in the mix, saying we’d be willing to step in,” Edgar said. “They decided to go with Chad Mendes for that role.

“I think the explanation was that he was the No. 1 contender and I was No. 2 at the time.”

Edgar is the No. 1 ranked featherweight in the current UFC rankings, one spot ahead of Mendes. Edgar knows that these kind of swings in the rankings can happen, often seemingly at random.

Despite the confusion over placement in the rankings, Edgar sees the fight very clearly. The interim title fight, he says, is really just a bout to determine the top contender for when Aldo is ready to fight again.

With the winner of the interim title set to face Aldo upon his return, Edgar is also aware that Aldo remaining out due to injury is probably his fastest path to putting gold around his waist once again.

“It’s kind of finicky with the rankings,” Edgar said. “I think after he got the nod the new rankings came out and I was No. 1 and neither of us fought. So it’s kind of a tough spot.

“I think we’re going to see what happens on the 11th. I’m not going to sit around and wait for the winner to fight Aldo. It’s an interim title, but it’s really a No. 1 contender fight. The winner gets to fight Aldo when he’s healthy. With Aldo, you just never know when he’s going to be healthy. Maybe I can get a fight with one of them – the winner – before that.”

For more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.