Josh Thomson isn’t sold on Frankie Edgar’s transition to the bantamweight division.
Edgar is set to make his 135-pound debut on Jan. 25. He’ll go one-on-one with Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh. ESPN first reported the matchup. Some feel Edgar made this move too late in his career, and Thomson is leaning towards that belief.
Thomson Has Worries About Edgar Moving Down
During the latest edition of the Weighing In podcast, Thomson explained why he has concerns over Edgar’s move down to the bantamweight division (via BJPenn.com).
“The bottom is this. As you get older, I feel like you should go up in weight, and not down in weight. Especially in the lightweight-weight divisions, speed kills. You’re fighting now guys who are going to be as fast as you, if not faster as you. As you go down in weight, it’s going to be a harder weight cut for you as well,” Thomson said about Edgar moving down.
“Frankie’s never really had to make the weight. At 155lbs, he didn’t cut any weight. He was actually eating at 2 or 3 in the morning just to keep the weight on. At 145lbs, he didn’t really have a weight problem either. Easy weight cut for him. At 135lbs, he’s going to actually have to put some work in to keep the weight down a little, and then cut the weight the week of the fight. He hasn’t normally had to do that. How is that going to affect him? We don’t know.”
Thomson went on to say that Edgar may run into some problems with opponents who are faster than him.
“He’s been cutting weight his whole life, with wrestling he’s been involved with the saunas. He understands how to cut the weight and do it properly. That won’t be as much of an effect to him as much as the speed of the weight class will. To me, that’s going to be the distinct difference of whether he succeeds or not in the 135lbs division,” Thomson said.
“My concern is, as you get older you slow down. I saw when he fought Max Holloway and the other guys at 145lbs, he had a harder time with the guys that were as fast as him.”
