Video Vault: Frankie Edgar - A Study In Determination, Discipline, And Following A Dream

April 6th, 2010 · No Comments

In recognition of the UFC Lightweight title fight in Abu Dhabi this weekend featuring New Jersey’s Frankie Edgar, I have decided to run a wrestling tutorial from Edgar which he did for TriStateFighter.com in February 2009. Now, this is not a glamorous or controversial spot, but just highlights what makes Edgar so tough to finish on the ground.

I first met Edgar in June of 2007 when I produced a “day in the life” video of him for NBCSports.com when he was still working his full time job as a plumber. I think of that day often, of late, remembering just how hard he worked both as a plumber from 8am to 4pm on-to his four hour training session that evening. I find myself thinking regularly about just how far Edgar has come in 2.5 years and how everything he dreamed of in MMA has come to pass short of a victory Saturday. He did not want to install urinals at local high schools his entire life - he wanted to be a full-time professional fighter. With the fight of his life ahead, I believe Edgar carries with him the confidence of someone who has worked hard for every inch of opportunity that has come his way. Win or lose, I suspect he will keep his perspective and discipline which will serve him well in a career that has a long way to go either as a new champion or an ongoing title contender.

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Off The Cuff... Edgar VS. Alvarez!

In early May, I was down at Almeida BJJ to shoot and produce a feature on Frankie Edgar tied to his photo shoot for FIGHT! magazine. That video will be on Fightmagazine.com soon. While working, I was lucky to witness one of the great sparring sessions in my day. Edgar was going toe-to-toe with Eddie Alvarez who was one week out from his fight V. Josh Neer. Now, I have known Frankie for some time, so I might be biased but he did seem to control the action. Standing, his fast hands and feet allowed him to get off first much like we saw against BJ and Sherk. Each man got a couple takedowns but the overall pace and forward movement seemed slightly in favor of Edgar. Now, in Eddie's defense, he may have been only seeking to work on one element of his game V. Edgar and only trying to react or setup something only he knew of, specific to the Josh Neer fight ... so in that respect, it was not a true test of each fighting the other under the same context. That said, there was not really anything off limits - it was vicious jab/right combos from Frankie followed, at one point, by a head over heel body-throw take-down from Eddie on Frankie ... neither giving an inch. It felt like the real thing minus the the bright lights and octagon. It seemed to get harsh a couple of times but that may have just been my read. In the end, hard core sparring at play. Two of the top-5 lightweights on the planet going after each other at 110% on a lazy Thursday morning in Hamilton, NJ. After the session, what did Edgar do... relax-no, he went to use a chainsaw and chop down small trees in a friend's backyard for three hours.