Frankie Edgar with his UFC lightweight championship belt.

Originally scheduled to rematch Gray Maynard at UFC 130 on May 28, UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar has had to withdraw from the bout due to what was first reported as a rib injury. However, the champ says it really has more to due with his back.

Edgar said his back had been bothering him for some time and he tried to fight through the pain and ended up popping out his rib while training at Ricardo Almeida‘s Jiu Jitsu Academy last week.

A doctor’s visit revealed Edgar’s L2 and L5 discs are bulged, and the dco recommended  the champ did not fight.

Edgar commented on the difficult decision to pull out of the May 28 rematch with Maynard:

“I was planning on going through with the fight with the back injury. I didn’t want to postpone the bout at all. I feel like I lost the fight right now. I’m very depressed about this whole situation. I’m sure in a couple of days I’ll realize I did the right thing by going to see a doctor. It’s not fair to myself, to Gray, it’s not fair to the fans to take a fight like this. I mean, I’m never 100 percent healthy when I step in the Octagon anyway but this is something different. I’m not even 30% right now. When it’s really inflamed, the pain is excruciating. When it happened on Saturday the drive back home from Ricardo’s was the longest drive of my life.”

The champ is hoping the injury will not require surgery, rehab will be enough and he can get back to training in about a month. Edgar is unable to give a definite time frame for his return at this time as it will ultimately depend on how well the rehab process goes and whether or not he ends up needing surgery.

Check out UFC.com for Edgar’s full interview with Mike Straka posted on Tuesday.

One thought on “Frankie Edgar hoping to avoid surgery; explains injury that took him out of UFC 130”
  1. It sad. Their 2nd fight was awsome, probably fight of this Year, unless Diaz and Daley scores it.

    Did U see his preparations in Renzo Gracie’s Academy? If not check ou Tatame TV on Youtube.

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