Frankie Edgar has finally opened up about his canceled return to combat sports, and he’s far from happy with how it all went down.
Edgar, a former UFC champion who retired from fighting in 2022, announced his comeback in mid-August when he booked his bareknuckle boxing debut under the BKFC banner. Edgar was supposed to take on fellow ex-UFC fighter Jimmie Rivera at BKFC 82 on Oct. 4 in his home state of New Jersey. However, days before the event, Edgar got a message that gave him an uneasy feeling.
“I was supposed to fight obviously in BKFC this past weekend, October 4th,” Edgar said on “The Champ and Tramp.” “I was training for six, seven weeks, and I got out a week out of the fight, and we get an email. My manager, Ali (Abdelaziz), gets an email from someone in BKFC stating that the owner of BKFC is leaving for Manchester and that he doesn’t have a phone on him, but he’ll call you eventually, but in the meantime, his doctor recommended I don’t fight based on my age, consecutive TKO losses, my layoff, and my record – which sounds fugazi. That was before that doctor had seen my medicals, which is crazy. And the fact that he said that a week before the fight, and obviously we signed a deal months ago, so all those facts were known way before we signed that deal.”
A few days went by, with Edgar not getting any clarity on the status of his return fight. Then, on Oct. 1, NJ.com reported the news of his fight being canceled, which BKFC president David Feldman confirmed hours later. The odd thing about the news for Edgar was that it was BKFC – not the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which regulated the event – that pulled him from the fight.
Edgar said he passed all the medical screenings, which Feldman also confirmed, but even then, BKFC’s chief medical officer recommended the fight be canceled. Rivera stayed on the card and ended up beating late replacement Timmy Mason in a third-round TKO.
“I passed every single one of my medicals,” Edgar explained. “I did a sh*t ton of medicals. I was running around. Every day I was at the doctor. Let me tell you: I got a physical, a blood test, I got an eye exam, then I had to go to three different heart things. An eco test, a stress test, and a carotid test. Three different appointments. Then I also went to a neurologist, and I got an MRI and an MRA. Every single doctor said my stuff was great.
“Now the promotion was trying to say they didn’t get my medicals, which is bullsh*t. They got all my medicals. Now they didn’t send my medicals to the commission – at all, at all. I’m talking to someone in the commission, and they’re like, ‘We don’t have your medicals. What do you mean you can’t fight? We don’t have your medicals.’ They’re the ones that OK you. They’re the commission.
“I gathered all my medicals and I gave them to them. I got a call from someone there, and they said the doctor from the commission reviewed your medicals, and he said, ‘You look f*cking fantastic.’ This was recently. This was after I knew I wasn’t fighting. Your MRI hasn’t changed since 2021, you have no white brain matter, and that’s what they look for because it signifies damage and what not. They even said, ‘I don’t know if you plan on doing anything, but you can tell your wife and family you have a clean bill of health if you chose to fight more.'”
Edgar makes damning accusation against BKFC
Edgar isn’t sure why he was pulled from the fight, but he doesn’t believe it was due to his medical records. He thinks either BKFC didn’t sell well at the box office and didn’t want to pay him, or they just always intended to use him as a promotion pawn. Regardless, Edgar was fuming with how he was treated by BKFC.
“I did everything they wanted, by the way. I went to every f*cking promotion. I hosted a watch party. I went to the Devil’s game. I did f*cking podcast after podcast promoting the fight. I’ve been doing everything for them, so that’s f*cked.”
Edgar said he was the one approached by BKFC in the first place when the promotion booked the BKFC 82 event in his home state. Being a New Jersey and UFC legend, BKFC thought it would be good to have him on its card. Edgar initially declined but after several other attempts, Edgar agreed to make a return, with BKFC matching a high asking price he’d set – which he didn’t disclose.
The fact that it was BKFC that pushed for his return just to later cancel it doesn’t sit right with Edgar.
“It’s just shady. It’s just shady, bro,” Edgar said. “It’s the fight game. We should know shady sh*t happens, but this sh*t don’t happen in the UFC. You never heard any stories like this in the UFC. If you heard stories like this from the UFC, the UFC probably wouldn’t be where it is today. I’m just saying, I don’t know what BKFC is going to do, but this ain’t a good look. Honestly, I want to be more mad and pissed off, but I just can’t let it consume me that much. You guys dogged me in my own f*cking state. That’s crazy. That’s f*cked up.
Edgar did confirm Feldman’s claims last week on “The Ariel Helwani Show” that BKFC paid Edgar part of his purse for his troubles. The UFC legend describes this as a payment so he doesn’t take them to court, which he agreed he wouldn’t do by taking the payment.
“I thought BKFC had something,” Edgar said. “I was like, ‘Wow. This is pretty entertaining. They got something, but not if they treat fighters like this.’ I’ll tell you what: Fighters out there, beware. Listen, they’re giving me something pretty much so I don’t sue them for the whole purse, you know. That’s it. That’s where we’re at.”
