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Retirement was supposed to be the easy part. Former UFC lightweight champion, and multiple time contender Frankie Edgar hung up his gloves in November of last year, after a crushing knockout loss to Chris Gutierrez in his farewell bout. At 41-years-old, the longtime Mark Henry trained fighter had given everything he had to give inside the Octagon. But that didn’t mean there’s not still a lot left for him to do. Not as a fighter, perhaps, but instead as a coach.
Unfortunately for the ‘Answer’ there’s still plenty of danger to be had just working in the gym. Something he was reminded of recently during a sparring session with one of his students. In a short clip to his Instagram page, Frankie Edgar showed off the results of his folly. Fortunately he seems to be alright after the accident.
Frankie Edgar forgot to lock the cage
“Over 18 years in the game and I’m still making rookie mistakes 🤦🏻♂️,” Frankie Edgar wrote in a message accompanying the post. “Forgot to lock the cage door when I was training @markgrey135 and boom! I was expecting to feel the cage on my back but instead I felt the stairs dig into my back and the back of my head into the floor. Thankfully there were rubber mats on the floor. Still got up and finished the session, we got fights to win! #Fe #bozo“
Bantamweight prospect Mark Grey
The man across the cage from Frankie Edgar for his unfortunate mishap was CFFC bantamweight prospect Mark Grey. Currently 4-0 in his young MMA career, the 30-year-old made his professional debut just last year, after spending the year previous on the amateur circuit. He’s unbeaten at both levels, having defeated 5-5 Keith Speed last December at CFFC 116.
While the bout has not been officially announced, Grey has been advertising on his Instagram page that he’ll be competing for the Ring Of Combat bantamweight title on May 12th at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, NJ. An opponent has yet to be named.
No sign of a return for Frankie Edgar
Combat sports across the board are hard to quit. MMA especially seems to have a habit of dragging men back for just one more bout, sometimes for years on end. For Frankie Edgar, however—speaking to the media ahead of his retirement bout—the decision sounded like a final one.
I hate saying it but I’ve got to say it,” Frankie Edgar told MMA Fighting. “I always thought I was going to be a guy that would never say I’m retiring but if I don’t say it, I’ll never get out of there. I think now’s the time. I need to worry about what I’m doing next. I need to kind of move past this part.
“I’m not one to kind of say stuff and then renege on it. I said it, I’m going to follow through. It sucks. I definitely don’t want it to be but all good things come to an end.”
By all accounts that seems to be a decision that Frankie Edgar has stuck to. While he’s been seen conducting seminars and helping to train the next gen of MMA fighters, no word on any plans for a late-career shift to the bare knuckle, or celebrity boxing circuits that have become a landing pad for so many other UFC veterans. Hopefully retirement continues to treat him well.
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