Frankie Edgar books retirement fight vs Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281
Longtime UFC veteran Frankie Edgar will be finishing his career at Madison Square Garden in November. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was first to report earlier this week that Edgar will face Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 on November 12, and that the 30th UFC appearance of Edgar’s career, will be the final fight of his career as well.
Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) in the Garden one last time. Edgar will face Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 on Nov. 12. He confirmed to me it will be his last fight, “unless someone gets lippy in Seaside next summer.” It will be his 30th UFC bout. pic.twitter.com/qXPZWhARlq
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 6, 2022
The former lightweight champion has spent more than 15 years with the company, making his promotional debut in February of 2007 against Tyson Griffin, a fight that Edgar won by unanimous decision. In all, Frankie Edgar has compiled a record of 18-10-1 during his time with the UFC and an overall record of 24-10-1 in his professional career.
Winning the lightweight title from B.J. Penn at UFC 112 in 2010, Frankie Edgar would go on to defend the belt three times in his career in classic fights against Penn and Gray Maynard. The New Jersey native has fought in the lightweight, featherweight, and currently the bantamweight division, having challenged twice for the title at 145 pounds but came up short.
One of the most respected veterans of the sport in any promotion, Frankie Edgar will forever be remembered for his willingness to fight anyone at any weight, the classic wars he put on throughout his career, and how he went about his career the right way, garnering respect from everyone around the UFC.
Frankie Edgar’s love for New Jersey and New York is unmatched, so being able to go out on his own terms having his final fight at Madison Square Garden is something that fighters dream of, being able to retire in their own backyard. Although he previously mentioned wanting to retire at UFC 281 against Dominick Cruz, Edgar will get the location and date, just a different opponent in Gutierrez.
Chris Gutierrez is undefeated since officially joining the UFC and is currently riding a six-fight winning streak. Despite the recent success, he is still unranked in the bantamweight division but a win over the 11th-ranked Edgar would likely put him in the Top-15 rankings.
Here is the current scheduled UFC 281 lineup:
- Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira (middleweight championship)
- Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang (strawweight championship)
- Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler
- Erin Blanchfield vs Molly McCann
- Dominick Reyes vs Ryan Spann
- Mike Trizano vs Seung Woo Choi
- Renato Moicano vs Brad Riddell
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Silvana Gomez Juarez
- Ottman Azaitar vs Matt Frevola
- Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles
- Carlos Ulberg vs Nicolae Negumereanu
- Andre Petroski vs Wellington Turman
- Julio Arce vs Montel Jackson
- Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutierrez
