Frankie Edgar is coming out of combat sports retirement, but those close to him weren’t gung-ho about the idea at first.
Most within the MMA community have said that Edgar has nothing left to prove. The former UFC Lightweight Champion has beaten the likes of the legendary BJ Penn, Charles Oliveira, Urijah Faber, and Yair Rodriguez to name a few. Edgar felt the need to take on a different challenge as he gets closer to the age of 44.
Edgar will be competing on the BKFC 82 card on Oct. 4. He’ll be taking on fellow ex-UFC fighter Jimmie Rivera, who has five bare-knuckle fights on his resume. Appearing on MMA Junkie Radio, “The Answer” revealed that his closest family members weren’t initially on board with his decision to return to prizefighting.
“My close family definitely was against it,” Edgar said. “For sure, my wife, my kids, my parents, but I talked them into it, I guess you could say. At least enough for me to get the OK. I don’t know if I got their blessing, but I got the OK.
“They think I don’t need it. I don’t need to do this. I’m not searching for pennies or anything under the couch. It’s not that I need it. They get who I am. My wife knew what she got into when she signed up for this a while back. She knows the kind of person I am, and I’m sure this is not too surprising for her.”
Edgar hasn’t competed since Nov. 2022 when he was knocked out by Chris Gutiérrez. At the time of his retirement, many agreed that “The Answer” had given all he could to MMA. It won’t be long before fans find out if Edgar has some juice left in the world of bare-knuckle boxing.
BJPenn.com will keep you updated on the BKFC 82 card leading up to fight night.