Sherdog’s Top 10: Most Durable Fighters

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2. Frankie Edgar

Former UFC lightweight champion Edgar epitomizes the concept of “heart” in MMA. At the end of the day, Edgar simply seems to want it more than his opponents, and that never-say-die attitude has been at the heart of his most iconic victories. That “heart,” however much it plays out in his fights, is predicated on Edgar’s near-inhuman ability to absorb punishment.

In his second bout with Gray Maynard at UFC 125, the former Michigan State University wrestler knocked down Edgar three times in the first round, sending him cartwheeling all over the Octagon before the champion battled back to earn a split draw. In their third and final meeting, Maynard once again knocked him down in the first round, and Edgar once again had to battle back. This time, he knocked out Maynard with a sharp right hand in the fourth round to put their rivalry to bed. It was a rivalry that never really would have existed, however, had Edgar not possessed such incredible resilience.

The second and third Maynard bouts were not the only occasions on which Edgar has displayed his ridiculous durability. Benson Henderson brutalized Edgar’s legs and knocked him down with an upkick in their first meeting, but the New Jersey native kept it competitive throughout; and Jose Aldo looked to be on his way to repeating his low-kicking performance against Urijah Faber early in his fight with Edgar, but somehow, the former lightweight champion managed to eat those low kicks and keep coming without looking much the worse for wear.

Edgar has never been knocked out, and while he has been beaten seven ways from Sunday on more than one occasion, he fought his way through it and came out on top more often than not.

Number 1 » His entire approach to fighting is predicated on that durability. He is a pressure fighter -- a swarmer, to be more precise -- who wants to walk down his opponent, push him to the cage and unload a stream of head-body combinations until he falls down unconscious, the Californian jumps on a submission or the final bell sounds. Eating a whole bunch of punches and kicks is a necessary adjunct to that approach. No matter how many shots you land on your opponent, working at a quick pace within arm’s reach effectively guarantees that you, too, are going to get hit.