Frankie Edgar’s motivation to rematch B.J. Penn is simple – he wants to work his way back to a title shot.
The former lightweight champion is coming off a second coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter, this time against fellow former champion Penn. The two competitors are scheduled to meet in a trilogy fight next month in Las Vegas, and Edgar believes it is a contest that could put him back in title contention.
“It’s the competitive nature of B.J. (Penn), you know. I’m a competitor myself, and I guess those wins that I have over him still sting on him, and he just wants a chance to get back at it.” Edgar told Submission Radio.”My motivation is, I just want to get back to the title. You know, in order to do that I’m gonna have to win every fight in front of me. And just the fact that I don’t wanna lose the third time out. I won twice (against B.J.), for sure I don’t wanna lose the third time out.”
Edgar also discussed a potential match-up against Irish star Conor McGregor, who he is more than willing to compete against in the future.
“If he makes it to that point where we can meet, yeah of course. You know, I think he’s a good fighter, I think he has a lot of potential, he knows how to promote himself, he knows how to put himself in the media. So he’s got all the tools.”
The former lightweight champion also revealed that he was originally pitched the idea of coaching TUF against Urijah Faber, but that they could not come to an agreement on the weight class.
“They first came up to me and said Urijah was a possible opposing coach, but I was at 145, he was at 135. I wasn’t willing to go all the way to 135, and I don’t think he was willing to come up to 145. So I think that’s how it ended up B.J. taking that spot.”
Edgar was highly complimentary of the Team Alpha Male founder and was open to a potential match-up at 145lb.
“Urijah’s a legend in this game, and he’s one of the best lighter-weight guys to do it, and that’s an intriguing match-up, me versus Urijah.”
Ultimately, Edgar believes a win over Penn would get him significantly closer to a title shot against the winner between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.
“If not right after B.J. maybe one more, but I’m definitely vying for it I’ll do what I gotta do to get there.
The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale takes place July 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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