It may not have been “The Answer” the crowd wanted at the end — not by a long shot — but Frankie Edgar’s MMA career came to a close Saturday night.
Edgar, in what he has announced as his final fight, fell hard against Chris Gutierrez via a brutal knee knockout at 2:01 of the first round on the main card of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden.
A proud native of Toms River, N.J., Edgar will end his career 24-11 with 11 finishes.
“I love this sport, man,” an injured Edgar told the crowd in the cage, after UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan asked if he would consent to an interview. “I didn’t wanna go out like that. This sport’s a b—h.”
The fight remained on the feet for its short duration, and Gutierrez (19-4-1, 10 finishes) stung Edgar with his notoriously heavy leg kicks early.
Chris Gutierrez knocks out Frankie Edgar in the first round. Getty Images
Frankie Edgar is emotional after the last bout of his career. Zuffa LLC But Edgar’s chin, once famed for absorbing blow after blow before proving a liability in recent years, couldn’t withstand Gutierrez’s power. The knee that sent Edgar backward stiffly to the mat caused his third consecutive knockout loss in brutal fashion — all via knees or kicks against some of the heaviest hitters at 135 pounds.
A loud “Fran-kie, Ed-gar” chant sounded out from the Garden crowd shortly before the bout was made official and not long after Gutierrez gave his opponent a long and respectful embrace, as the surefire future Hall of Famer sat on the stool he had to be raised up to sit upon.
On his way to the back, Edgar shared an embrace with his wife and children.
Edgar, who reigned as the UFC lightweight champion from 2010-12, made his name on his ability to overcome early adversity against larger opponents. In his final years of competition, he had dropped all the way down to bantamweight — weighing in 20 pounds less than when he ruled the 155-pound division.
Frankie Edgar is helped to his feet after his defeat. APThroughout the week, the majority of the athletes on the fight card and in New York for the festivities had shared what Edgar’s career meant to them. Many cited his fight-of-the-year draw against Gray Maynard in 2011 — a championship bout in which Edgar rallied from a disastrous first frame to retain the bel — as his most memorable. Edgar put an exclamation point on the rivalry with a fourth-round knockout of the larger Maynard 10 months later.
Gutierrez, a Jersey City native who trains in Colorado, extended his unbeaten streak to eight fights and secured the highest-profile victory of his career.
