Frankie Edgar to Take Final Fight at UFC 281 in New York Against Chris Gutierrez

Soon to be 41 years of age, former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Frankie Edgar is ready for one last ride.

Per the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Thursday, Edgar (24-10-1) has his final fight with the promotion booked. The New Jersey native intends on it being his retirement bout, and it will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov 12 at UFC 281. In the bantamweight division, he will square off against the surging Chris Gutierrez (18-4-2), and “The Answer” has since confirmed the pairing on social media.

The ex-lightweight king has struggled as of late, dropping four of his last five dating back to 2019 across both featherweight and bantamweight. When losing to Max Holloway for the title, and then succumbing to strikes in the first round to Chan Sung Jung a few months later in 2019, Edgar shifted gears to 135 pounds. His initial trip down went his way, after five thrilling rounds with Pedro Munhoz, as he picked up the split call. Two knockouts to Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera left many wondering what Edgar had left, and he now faces an opponent that has not lost in several years.

While the 41-year-old Edgar has hit a rough patch, it has been all positive for “El Guapo” Gutierrez in the Octagon. Gutierrez suffered a submission loss in his promotional debut in 2018 against Raoni Barcelos and has not looked back, rattling off an unbeaten streak of seven including six wins and a draw to Cody Durden. Most recently, the Texan cracked Batgerel Danaa with a spinning back fist at UFC on ESPN 33 in March to move his win streak to three straight. Of note, Gutierrez’ stoppage is the only one in UFC history to come from a spinning back fist where elbows were involved in the finishing sequence.

The stacked UFC 281 lineup will go down on Nov. 12 inside of Madison Square Garden in New York. Capping off the event will be a middleweight championship grudge match between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. The co-main attraction will see newly crowned strawweight champ Carla Esparza make her first defense against ex-titleholder Weili Zhang. Additional main card tilts include a lightweight scrap pitting Dustin Poirier against Michael Chandler, and Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles also at 155 pounds. It is currently undetermined where Edgar-Gutierrez will be placed on the billing.