Frankie Edgar Issues Statement Following Devastating UFC 222 Defeat

Over the weekend, the MMA community was effusive in its praise of Frankie Edgar following his knockout loss to Brian Ortega.

On Monday, “The Answer” issued a statement of his own. In it, Edgar congratulates Ortega, thanks everyone for their support and vows to get back on the horse.

“Saturday did not go as planned, congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones,” Edgar wrote. “Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don't go unnoticed. All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.”

Saturday did not go as planned, congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones. Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don't go unnoticed. All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.

— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) March 5, 2018

Edgar was gunning for his third featherweight title shot, but a standing elbow and a brutal uppercut from Ortega put an end to those hopes 4:44 into round one of their co-headlining encounter.

Edgar initially moved to 145 pounds in 2013 and challenged for the belt in his first appearance, losing to Jose Aldo by unanimous decision at UFC 156. He came up short against Aldo again in an interim title tilt at UFC 200. Still, the Ricardo Almeida Jiu-Jitsu product has largely been one of the top talents in the division in recently years, earning victories over the likes of Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes, Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez, to name a few.