Edgar: ‘I Felt Horrible, Like I Lost the Fight’

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After battling back in one of the most valiant performances ever witnessed inside the fabled Octagon, UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar choked back his emotions and made a solemn resolution. Not satisfied with holding onto his title with the split draw handed down after a heroic five-round comeback in January, Edgar wanted to prove he could beat Gray Maynard, who also tacked the only loss on Edgar’s otherwise spotless record.

The world’s best 155-pounder will have to wait a little longer than he had hoped after coming up lame during a practice session last Saturday. Edgar, 29, was trying to work through a painful, recurring back injury that he has dealt with on and off for 10 years when displaced cartilage in his ribcage began to affect his training.

“I knew something was wrong, but I tried to fight through it,” Edgar told Sherdog.com recently, “but then the rib began popping in and out -- I am sure because I was favoring my back -- but it was just too much.”

At that point, it was clear Edgar had to abandon the home remedy of anti-inflammatories and seek professional advice. A trip to an orthopedist turned up a familiar diagnosis of bulging discs in his lumbar vertebrae and a subsequent follow-up with a UFC doctor in Las Vegas Monday ended any hope of finally putting Maynard in his rearview mirror at UFC 130.

It was an utterly depressing couple of days for the usually upbeat Edgar.

“I was devastated. I felt horrible, like I lost the fight,” said the champion of arguably the deepest division in the sport. “It took me a couple days to start to get over it. I know I have to get the treatment and physical therapy before I can get back in there.”

The treatment Edgar alluded to will include an epidural injection to help with the constant pain he has been suffering, pain that has kept him from doing anything strenuous, including picking up his kids. It is early in the process of recovery but Edgar is holding out hope that he could return to the cage sometime this summer.

“I will need a half a month to see how the treatment goes and then probably a couple months of camp to be ready to fight,” said the New Jersey native. “I just have to see how everything goes.”

Maynard has also been battling through an injury to his knee and recently received stitches to close a cut suffered in training. The cancellation of the fight was ironically announced in a press conference originally scheduled to herald the UFC’s decision to offer out-of-competition insurance to their fighters, a move Edgar was quick to support.

“This is something that I think shows we are moving more and more towards a mainstream sport. It is great for the fighters,” said the father of two. “I am lucky. I have insurance through my wife, who still works, but I am sure she isn’t going to want to keep working forever and this will help when we have to insure ourselves.”

One of the biggest issues which the UFC hopes to solve by insuring fighters for training injuries or accidents is the long-running practice of fighters competing when they are not healthy enough to perform at the expected level.

Edgar says perhaps this fight just wasn’t meant to happen at this point. Pointing to his and Maynard’s troubles, the diminutive champ chuckles before trying to reassure himself of his theory.

“I guess it is better that we wait and fight when we are both ready. It wouldn’t be fair to Gray or me I guess,” said Edgar, obviously still contemplating his statement. “It is better for both of us to do this when we are... healthy enough to fight.”

Let’s not forget about the fans, who are looking forward to another epic showdown between two of the world’s best lightweights.