The LW Champion will go in as underdog
Date: 2010-08-22 00:00:00
Source: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/article_...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
Frankie Edgar will walk into the ring at Boston's TD Garden next Saturday with the UFC lightweight championship belt draped around him. He will glare at opponent BJ Penn, someone he beat four months ago. And when the bell rings, Edgar still won't be expected to win. Edgar may be the champion, but he is still a big underdog at Saturday's mixed martial arts UFC 118. The main event is Edgar vs. Penn, a rematch of UFC 112 in April, when the Toms River native stunned nearly everyone with a unanimous decision to win the title. "I think my last three or four fights, I've been the underdog," Edgar said on a conference call last week. "So it's a role I'm becoming comfortable with. I seem to perform pretty good in this position." UFC 118, airing on pay-per-view, begins at 10 p.m. The five-round main event likely will begin around midnight. Penn is listed as a big favorite. According to most sportsbooks, Edgar is about a 3-1 underdog. Of the fights scheduled for the event, Edgar is the second-biggest underdog in a match. The UFC even is promoting the fight using Edgar's underdog status. In a TV commercial, clips of Edgar beating Penn the first time are shown while the Toms River native speaks in the background: "They said you were going to destroy me, but you didn't," Edgar says. "What are they going to say when I beat you again?" Still, Penn - an even bigger favorite the first time - doesn't want to focus on that. "If people are putting Frankie as the underdog, that's exactly how I feel - I'm the underdog," the 31-year-old Penn said. "I'm the guy that doesn't want to let the sport pass him by, and I want to stay at the forefront of this whole thing." As a senior at Toms River East High School in 2000, Edgar won a 135-pound title in the state individual wrestling championships at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. This will be Edgar's first fight as the UFC's 155-pound champion. It is a bit unusual for a rematch to happen so quickly. The Edgar-Penn rematch was almost immediately agreed upon after the two fought in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Edgar, 28, is 12-1 with two KOs and three submissions. Penn, a Hawaii native, is 15-6-1 with six KOs and six submissions. "You're only as good as your last fight," Edgar said. "I mean, you could win fights and you're still getting criticized. So, you know, I go out and prove myself every time." About 150 of Edgar's friends and family will make the trip to Boston for support. The crowd often cheers for an underdog during a fight. But Edgar, a Yankees fan, chuckled at the thought of Penn gaining support from the Boston crowd by walking to the ring with a Red Sox hat. Fan support or not, though, Edgar is ready to prove the first fight wasn't a fluke. "The greatest achievement you can achieve in our sport is to be the world champ ... so it means a lot to me," Edgar said. "But, you know, I really don't want to sit here and just say I'm satisfied. I want to stay champion as long as possible."
