UFC Raleigh: Cory Sandhagen Believes Frankie Edgar Should Have Retired Following Loss to Max Holloway

After coming up short in his latest bid to win the UFC’s featherweight title, Frankie Edgar has decided to take a run at the promotion’s 135 crown. But, the fighter who has been tapped to welcome Edgar to the bantamweight division, Cory Sandhagen, believes the legend should have retired following his latest loss.

Edgar’s decision to drop to 135

Talk about Edgar fighting at bantamweight has made the rounds for several years, but the former lightweight champ always resisted the idea. But, following Edgar’s decision loss to featherweight champ Max Holloway this past July, the 38-year-old announced he is indeed, dropping to 135 (Edgar and Conor McGregor also campaigned for a fight between the two, but the UFC wasn’t onboard).

Now, at UFC Raleigh on January 25th, Edgar will take on the rising bantamweight contender, Sandhagen.

Sandhagen comments on Edgar’s move

Well, recently Sandhagen spoke with MMA Junkie. Although the 27-year-old made it clear he respects and likes Edgar, Sandhagen also expressed concerns about Edgar’s decision to drop to 135. In addition, the rising fighter relayed he thinks Edgar should have retired after losing to Holloway.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

“Not to sound punny, but I don’t think ‘the answer’ for him was to come down in weight… I think Frankie will feel a little bit better at 135 if he loses weight the correct way… (But) I also don’t think it’s going to be the easiest thing in the world for him.”

“I’m obviously catching him on the tail end of his career,” Sandhagen said. “That being said, I didn’t think he looked too bad against Max. I think the problem with Frankie — and I watched this in his post-fight interviews after Max — he looked really broken and confused as to why he wasn’t winning anymore. He was kind of looking for a solution.

“As much as I kind of hate to say it, I think that solution is you had your reign in the UFC. You did really good. You became a legend. You beat a lot of really tough guys and were the champ for a little bit. Like, that was your time…”

“That was a guy who needs to call it on the sport,” Sandhagen said, while reflecting on post-fight interviews he saw Edgar do, in which, according to him, He’s done everything he needs to do. So why need to do this? Him coming to 135 won’t do a ton for him…”

So, we’ll see what happens here. Will Edgar go out and prove both Sandhagen and his doubters wrong? If he does, he’ll jump right into the title shot mix. If Sandhagen wins, however, calls for Edgar to call it quits on his remarkable career will likely be widespread.