Frankie Edgar explains why “legacy fight” against Dominick Cruz interests him

UFC bantamweight contender Frankie Edgar explained why a matchup against his fellow legend of the sport Dominick Cruz interests him.

At age 38, Edgar did the unthinkable in his bantamweight debut as he was able to overcome the odds against him and defeat heavy favorite Pedro Munhoz via split decision in a razor-thin fight. Edgar became the 11th fighter in modern UFC history to win a fight in three different weight classes, and the win over Munhoz pushed Edgar into the No. 5 spot in the UFC’s stacked bantamweight division right off the bat.

The question for Edgar now is who does he fight next? With the No. 5 spot in the division, it figures that Edgar is part of the title mix, but when you look closer, he’s a bit further behind the rest of the pack of top contenders at 135lbs. UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is set to fight Aljamain Sterling next, while Marlon Moraes takes on Cory Sandhagen. Cody Garbrandt, meanwhile, is moving down to flyweight, leaving Edgar as the lone top-five bantamweight without a clear path for his next fight. Enter Cruz.

A fellow legend of the spot, Cruz actually called Edgar’s fight against Munhoz, so he knows first hand just how impressive Edgar was in his bantamweight debut. Edgar knows that Cruz is one of the best to ever do it, and out of respect, he’s interested in fighting him. Speaking to Bruce Buffer on the “It’s Time” podcast, Edgar said he wants to fight Cruz.

“Another guy that’s also a little older and a legend himself is Dominick Cruz. A lot of people are talking about that, so I’m definitely interested. The title is obviously my main goal, where my sight’s on, but it doesn’t have to be right away, and I’m willing to fight some of those legacy fights as well,” Edgar said (via BloodyElbow.com).

The former UFC lightweight champion Edgar sees a fight against Cruz as a potential chess match against a fellow legend, and that’s the kind of fight he is interested in right now, even knowing that the former bantamweight champion Cruz would be a tricky matchup.

“I don’t know, it’d be tough. You chase him, he’s really good at that, and you don’t want him chasing you either. So I think you got to mix it up and try a little cat and mouse game with him,” Edgar said.

Would you like to see Frankie Edgar fight Dominick Cruz?