The Film Room: Frankie Edgar
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Former 155-pound titleholder Frankie Edgar will step inside the Octagon for the first time in more than a year when he challenges Max Holloway for the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown in the UFC 240 main event on Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta. This figures to be the 37-year-old Edgar’s last shot at a championship, and a win would cement his place as one of the greatest fighters of all-time.
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With 15 of his 25 UFC fights having gone the distance, Edgar is one
of the most well-documented fighters on the roster. This can be
good and bad. Edgar can use the opponents’ expectations against
them, but the opponents and their teams can break down every aspect
of his game and have many examples of how he deals with different
styles of fighters. As a small featherweight and an even smaller
lightweight, Edgar had to fight smarter than most to make up for
his size, which allowed him to become one of the most cunning
strikers in the UFC. One tactic Edgar had to perfect to keep up
with bigger opponents is his liberal use of feints and fakes. Out
of a long-bladed stance, Edgar likes to circle around his opponents
while throwing a variety of jabs and feints to draw a reaction out
of them. The constant circling allows him to take dominate angles
for his strikes; the jabs help draw a reaction from opponents so he
can counter; and the feints allow him to see how they will react to
his leading attacks before committing to them.
Edgar came into the sport as a wrestler and competed collegiately at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Unlike many fighters from his era, Edgar progressed with the sport and quickly learned he needed to focus on his striking to compete at the highest levels. He has relied on his wrestling background to win fights in the past, most recently against Yair Rodriguez, but it is how he uses the threat of his grappling that is of greatest interest. Going back to feints, Edgar is the gold standard in MMA for using the threat of his wrestling to set up his strikes and limit the opponent’s options on the feet. Throughout a fight, Edgar will routinely reach for a single-leg with no intention of landing a takedown. This keeps the opponent honest and allows him to work off those feints to shoot for a determined takedown later in the fight. He also likes to counter an opponent’s kicks with a takedown attempt. Even if he fails to land it, opponents know he will try every time they are off-balance, which severely limits their options on the feet. Edgar is also great at striking off of grappling exchanges. He will grab a leg or simply lower his hips and then immediately come up with a strike. Since opponents are focused on defending the takedown and probably lowered their hands, their head is wide open for punches.
Working off of his feints, Edgar now has an idea of how the opponent will react to his leading attacks. Staying true to his game, Edgar usually leads with a quick combo and then immediately resets at range and goes back to feinting and making reads on his opponent. The most important thing to watch for is how he mixes in body shots and more feints when leading. He likes to lead with hook to the body to get the opponent to drop his hands and then follow it up with a rear hook to the head. He will also burst forward with quick feints to the body and head to overload the opponent’s reactions before he commits with a strike.
Something that never gets mentioned about Edgar: his leg kicks. Since his style relies on his being the quicker and smarter fighter, leg kicks are the perfect weapon to limit the opponent’s movement and ability to react to his speed. They are also relatively low risk and are the perfect counter to Holloway’s aggressive style.
Someone so reliant on feints and reading the opponent is bound to be a good counterstriker. Edgar is proficient at your standard single-strike counters, but he does his best work when he uses his speed and counters with combos. He will draw out a jab from the opponent and then blitz forward with a quick body-head combo. Edgar also has surprising knockout power for someone his size; one can only wonder what he might have done as a bantamweight. He does not have a ton of knockouts, but his win over Chad Mendes proved his power should always be respected, especially at 145 pounds.
The most interesting part of this fight is the grappling intangible Edgar brings to the table. Holloway is the superior striker and right in the middle of his prime, but Edgar can still win this one on the feet. However, Holloway does not stand a chance on the ground if Edgar is on his game. It could play out like his encounter with Rodriguez. Edgar took very few risks in that fight, knew he had the better grappling and dominated on the floor. Expect to see more grappling from him against Holloway, and it will be interesting to see how the Hawaiian reacts.
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