Frankie Edgar, one of the most exciting as well as popular fighters in UFC history who overcame a lack of size to win the promotion's lightweight title, received the ultimate honor on Saturday during the UFC 297 card at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto when he was chosen for the UFC Hall of Fame.
Edgar began his UFC on Feb. 3, 2007, at lightweight by defeating Tyson Griffin. He fought at 155 when he weighed 155 and yet won the lightweight title by defeating the legendary B.J. Penn. Edgar later fought for the world title at both featherweight and bantamweight.
He faced a who's who of the greatest mixed martial artists of his generation and scored victories over the likes of Penn, Charles Oliveira, Urijah Faber, Yair Rodriguez, Gray Maynard, Sean Sherk, Pedro Munhoz, Hermes Franca, Griffin and others.
A wrestler, Edgar was an all-action fighter whose three-fight series with Gray Maynard was epic. Edgar survived three early knockdowns by Maynard on Jan. 1, 2011, at UFC 125 to rally to force a split draw and keep his title. It was one of the best fights of its time.
Edgar won Fight of the Night seven times, Knockout of the Night once and had two Performance of the Night bonuses. He lost five of his last six, but still ended with a 24-11-1 record.
“Frankie Edgar is one of the greatest athletes in UFC history,” UFC CEO Dana White said. “Frankie had an amazing career and consistently fought the best athletes in the world across multiple weight classes for more than 15 years. He is a legend, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame as part of International Fight Week this summer.”