Frankie Edgar suffered his first ever knockout defeat in devastating fashion at UFC 222 on Saturday night after falling victim to an earth-shattering uppercut from Brian Ortega.
It seems the defeat hasn’t diminished the level of respect his fellow fighters have for ‘The Answer’ though as some of the sport’s highest profile stars have since rallied round the former lightweight champion on social media.
“Frankie’s career deserved for that to be against me tonight,” Conor McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Respect Frankie. Love and respect always! A true fighters fighter ❤.”
Meanwhile, the man that Edgar had been expected to face next before an injury forced him out, featherweight champion Max Holloway also had nothing but good things to say about him.
“You had nothing to gain from taking that fight @FrankieEdgar,” Holloway wrote. “But you took it you defended what you already earned. There’s no belt for sacrificing everything but true fans and Jersey knows no belt can outshine what you bring to the sport. Chin up bratha.”
Edgar has since spoken out to give his thoughts on what happened at the weekend and the support he’s received from his peers.
“Saturday did not go as planned, congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones,” Edgar wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don’t go unnoticed. All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.”
