Frankie Edgar suffered the biggest setback of his career at UFC 222, losing to surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega in the co-main event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
Edgar, who was originally supposed to challenge reigning champion Max Holloway for the featherweight title in the main event, was brutally knocked out in the first round with a crushing elbow and follow-up uppercut.
Several fighters, including Holloway and Conor McGregor, paid their respects to Edgar for going ahead with a non-title fight against one of the division’s brightest prospects and, yesterday, long-time coach and friend Mark Henry released a touching statement on Instagram.