Former UFC champ Frankie Edgar believes he's No. 1 contender if he beats Yair Rodriguez

DALLAS – So far, Frankie Edgar’s dreams of winning belts in two divisions have been held up by Jose Aldo.

Aldo, the current champ after the UFC stripped Conor McGregor of the belt, has twice kept Edgar from holding featherweight gold, first during his initial title reign and then for an interim strap put up in McGregor’s absence.

But the third time could be the charm, according to Edgar (21-5-1 MMA, 15-5-1 UFC). The former lightweight champ can’t guess what the UFC is going to do, but thinks if he’s able to upset the red-hot Yair Rodriguez (10-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 211, he should get the chance.

“I’ll definitely be lobbying for it,” Edgar told MMAjunkie in advance of his pay-per-view meeting at American Airlines Center in Dallas. “What can I do? There’s really no rhyme or reason to how they do things. If I can sway them to run it back a third time, I’ll definitely try.”

Right now, Aldo (26-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is focused on holding the belt when he meets interim champ Max Holloway (17-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in a title eliminator at UFC 212. So that leaves Edgar in line, a position he’s not unfamiliar with after a long campaign to fight McGregor for the featherweight belt.

That drive may not have been successful, but with the Irish champ holding the lightweight strap and pushing for a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, maybe this one is different. If nothing else, Edgar gets to prove he can still stop the young guys.

“I believe, yeah, I’m the No. 1 contender (if I beat Rodriguez),” Edgar said. “I’m No. 2 behind (Aldo and Holloway), and someone’s got to lose there, so that puts me next.”

For more on UFC 211, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

view original article >>