Frankie Edgar has one more rock to turn over.
Having exhausted his efforts in the 145- and 155-pound weight classes, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder will make his bantamweight debut opposite Pedro Munhoz in the UFC on ESPN 15 main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. They were originally scheduled to meet in July, but Munhoz’s positive test for COVID-19 scuttled those plans.
Edgar finds himself on a two-fight losing streak as he navigates the twilight of his career. The Ricardo Almeida protégé last appeared at UFC Fight Night 165, where he succumbed to punches from Chan Sung Jung a little more than three minutes into their main event in South Korea. It was just the second stoppage loss on Edgar’s extensive 32-fight resume.
A former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion, Munhoz has rattled off seven wins across his past nine outings. The American Top Team export last competed at UFC 238 in June 2019, when he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Aljimain Sterling. Munhoz boasts 13 finishes among his 18 professional victories.
As Edgar and Munhoz make final preparations for their headlining assignment, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
38: Years of age for Edgar, who was born on Oct. 16, 1981 in Toms River, New Jersey.
1,568: Significant strikes landed by Edgar inside the Octagon. The number places him fourth on the UFC’s all-time list behind Max Holloway (2,173), Joanna Jedrzejczyk (1,711) and Donald Cerrone (1,597). Edgar ranks first in UFC history in total fight time at 7:15:51 and remains the only fighter to eclipse the seven-hour plateau.
10: Post-fight bonuses won by Edgar in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” seven times, “Performance of the Night” twice and “Knockout of the Night” once, resulting in more than $450,000 of additional income.
1: Draw on the Edgar resume. “The Answer” fought to a five-round stalemate with Gray Maynard at UFC 125 in one of the most memorable lightweight title fights of all-time. Edgar was knocked down three times in a first round and absorbed a hellacious amount of punishment but ultimately survived to turn the tables and force a deadlock on the scorecards.
11: Edgar fights against former UFC or World Extreme Cagefighting champions. He owns a 6-5 record in those bouts, his losses to Jose Aldo (twice), Benson Henderson (twice) and Max Holloway offset by the sweep of his trilogy with B.J. Penn and his victories over Hermes Franca, Sean Sherk and Urijah Faber.
33: Years of age for Munhoz, who was born on Sept. 7, 1986 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
8: Submission wins for Munhoz, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Rubens Charles Maciel. His methods of choice: six guillotine chokes, one heel hook and one rear-naked choke.
.776: Cumulative winning percentage between the four men—Sterling, John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera and Raphael Assuncao—who have defeated Munhoz. All four were awarded decisions, with Dodson and Rivera earning split verdicts.
603: Significant strikes landed by Munhoz as a UFC bantamweight, good for seventh on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only T.J. Dillashaw (1,004), Renan Barao (738), Sterling (732), Assuncao (668), Faber (665) and Takeya Mizugaki (613) have connected with more.
41: Seconds needed for Munhoz to submit Billy Daniels with a guillotine choke at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 12 on Jan. 24, 2014. It was his final appearance before he joined the UFC roster and remains the fastest finish of his 23-fight career.