UFC star Frankie Edgar hopes for one last fight, eyes Dominick Cruz

Frankie Edgar wants one last UFC fight, and he has the perfect opponent and perfect way to sail off into the sunset.

Edgar is looking to compete one final time at UFC 281, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 12, his manager Ali Abedelaziz told ESPN on Monday.

“I think that would be cool,” Edgar said. “It would be a pretty cool sendoff at Madison Square Garden. It’s pretty much in my backyard. I trained up in Renzo’s for so many years, it would be a pretty cool sendoff.”

Edgar, 40, is from Toms River, New Jersey, and runs a UFC Gym in North Brunswick. He last fought in UFC in November 2021 at UFC 268 and lost to Maron Vera via knockout.

He said he would like to fight Dominick Cruz for his last bout.

“I’m never one to call anybody out or pick anybody. I usually let the UFC and Ali kind of figure that out,” he said. “But I’ll say a name just because I think it’s more of a legacy fight and I know he has a fight coming up and who knows how it could happen, but I think Dominick Cruz. He was a champion at 135 when I was the champion at 155. We were both pretty much top of the division. I think that could be an interesting fight.”

FAN-FAVORITE DONALD ‘COWBOY’ CERRONE RETIRES AT UFC 276 AFTER LOSS TO JIM MILLER: ‘I DON’T LOVE IT ANYMORE’

Edgar hasn’t had much success in the Octagon as of late. He has two wins in seven fights since 2018. He last defeated Pedro Munhoz in 2020 at UFC on ESPN 15 via split decision.

“The Answer” has been a one-time UFC lightweight champion and defended the title three times and his fight against Gray Maynard in 2011 was named Fight of the Year by Sherdog and the World MMA Awards. The two fought to a draw and Edgar retained the lightweight title.

Edgar said, in considering retirement, he started to think about his family and his loved ones.

“I’ve been kind of kicking the idea of retirement around since my last fight. The last couple of fights obviously didn’t go the way I wanted them to, but me, if I’m being honest I’d fight forever, you know? But that’s kind of selfish to my family and the people that care about me, so I think I need to kind of announce my retirement, have a retirement so I can sail off into the sunset a little bit,” he said.