It’s been nearly two years since Frankie Edgar last fought but that doesn’t mean he’s lost the desire to compete again.
As he prepares for his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2024, the former lightweight champion confesses he’ll always have the itch to fight scratching and clawing away at him. But when he announced his plans to retire from competition back in 2022, Edgar made that declaration in part to ensure that he would stick to that commitment.
Edgar says he’ll probably always have that same feeling burning away at him but that doesn’t mean he’s ever going to fight again.
“I’m not plotting no comeback,” Edgar told MMA Fighting. “I didn’t want to retire but I made that choice. I thought it was the right time. I’ve been so busy with other things. It’s still in me. It will never go away. I’ll be 70 years old and that shit won’t go away.”
Since calling it a career, Edgar hasn’t slowed down one bit — he’s just no longer spending the majority of his time in a training camp preparing for a fight. These days, the New Jersey native is putting the final touches on his new gym, coaching fighters and wrestlers who ask for his help and being there for his kids as they pursue their own hopes and ambitions.
In an unexpected twist, Edgar even got the chance to become an actor after scoring a supporting role in the film The Bastard Sons from writer and director Kevin Interdonato, who also previously appeared in The Sopranos.
“I never anticipated this myself,” Edgar said about his movie role. “When I got the opportunity, I jumped all over it. We had [Kevin] as a guest on my podcast and that was pretty much it. He’s from my area, we know people in the same circles. He has a little bit of a wrestling background, he served in the military so we had him as a guest and he told us about this script. He asked us if we wanted to do small cameo roles and we both said yes and then he came back a couple of weeks later saying a role opened up, would I be interested in it?
“I’ve done very minimal acting. I played myself in that Kickboxer 2 movie and I did that commercial for the UFC back in the day but I was playing myself, which is pretty easy. I told him I don’t have much experience but I’ll give it a shot and it was a blast.”
Beyond his acting role, Edgar admits the rest of his days are just as filled now as when he was an active fighter in the UFC. He still trains regularly but Edgar is no longer focused on getting ready for a fight but rather improving as a martial artist and passing along knowledge to the next generation following in his footsteps.
“I kind of have the same schedule [as when I was fighting],” Edgar said. “I’m in the gym in the morning and at night, I’m at practice with my kids or something. I’m helping a few local guys train here at Nick Catone’s [gym]. I’m opening my own school in Tom’s River. Just chasing the kids, they definitely keep me busy. I’m not slowing down. I still train all the time.”
His new gym dubbed the Iron Army Academy is Edgar’s next major project but don’t expect him to necessarily turn that into a breeding ground for fighters hoping to compete in the UFC one day.
While he’s not opposed to coaching athletes with those kinds of aspirations, Edgar knows the majority of the time he’ll be working with martial arts enthusiasts and everyday people just looking to stay in shape, get in shape or those hoping to learn wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
“This is a school for my community,” Edgar explained. “I want to change kid’s lives. I see what wrestling and jiu-jitsu did for lots of people, including myself, and I really think that to give the option to kids in my community, that’s what I’m going for but also to the adults. I think grappling and just the community that comes with it can be helpful for many people. It’s changed my life. That’s what I want to give.
“If a fight team happens naturally and organically, then if it happens, I’m all about it. My son may want to fight one day so it would be nice to help build him up and build a team for him. For now, it’s just more about a gym for the community, for the students not for professionals right now.”
From the day he decided that the end of his career was coming soon, Edgar began preparing for the next phase of his life. Between family, building his gym, coaching and other businesses, the now 42-year-old veteran rarely has much down time and that’s the way he likes it.
As much as he misses fighting, Edgar has found plenty of other activities to fill his days and he’s not planning on slowing down any time soon.
“You always hear a lot of stories of guys who retire and they get depressed or down because they’re not in the spotlight,” Edgar said. “I was never a guy that looked to be in the spotlight anyway but I don’t know how to be down and depressed. I don’t have time to think about it. I’m too busy chasing the kids and too busy trying to chase this next adventure in life. That keeps your mind out of being in the dumps.
“I’m enjoying this next part of my life. It’s not like I have a reason to be in the dumps. It’s like getting your white belt all over again. It’s a new mountain to climb. Another thing to motivate me.”
When it comes to his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, Edgar was never the kind of guy to tout his accomplishments or pat himself on the back for a job well done. Instead, he preferred to just keep his nose down and grind towards the next obstacle he had to conquer.
That said, Edgar appreciates the honor being bestowed upon him and even he’s not too proud to say that he’s definitely earned it.
“I put my heart and soul into the UFC,” Edgar said. “I was 5-0 when I got into the UFC. My career was in the UFC. I never anticipated to have this type of career, this type of life but I worked very, very hard for it. To get that recognition, and the people that you’re standing next to in those types of situations, it means everything. You’re in the record books forever. It does mean a lot.
“I’m not really a sentimental type of guy. Everyone is like ‘where’s your belt?’ I have it up on the podcast to make it look good but I’m not one of those guys that has all my medals from high school. That doesn’t mean anything but being in the UFC Hall of Fame, that is something special.”