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Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has decided to drop to featherweight and hopes to debut in that weight class in December, Fuel TV reported Tuesday night.
"I've been kicking the idea around a little bit, and I just think that the way things are right now it's good timing," Edgar told ESPN.com. "I'm not saying I will never fight at 155 again, I'd just like to fight in big fights and there are some big fights out there at 145. "(Featherweight champion Jose Aldo's comments) gave me a little more incentive to go down to 145. I'm a competitor, and with someone saying they're going to send you on your way, you want to give it a shot. We'll see what happens."
Edgar, a diminutive lightweight, has been weighing all his fighting options since a split-decision rematch loss to Benson Henderson on Aug. 11.
Aldo apparently swayed Edgar toward leaving the lightweight division with a comment he made Monday.
"He said he wants to drop to featherweight, so I'm hoping he does that to end this story," Aldo told Brazil-based website tatame.com. "He's welcome here so that we shut him off and he goes to the lightweight or bantamweight classes."
But Edgar's boxing coach, Mark Henry, told ESPN.com that the decision to forsake the lightweight ranks for the 145-pound division isn't final. And a move to bantamweight isn't completely off the table.
A decision will be reached later this week when Edgar meets with his entire coaching staff.
"We're contemplating the right move," Henry said. "He can really be a 135-pound fighter if he wants. He walks around at 158; most guys at (bantamweight) do that.
"I don't want to say that (his decision) is final yet, we're all still trying to weigh the options. We're waiting on Ricardo (Almeida) to come back from California.
"We want to hook up with Ricardo, Renzo (Gracie) and the whole team. But with Aldo making his statement he's kind of making the decision for us, Frankie's, anyway.
"Jose Aldo might have fast-tracked it for us."
Edgar (14-3-1) won the lightweight title in April 2010 with a unanimous decision over B.J. Penn.
He retained the title three times, beating Penn by unanimous decision in a rematch (Aug. 28, 2010) and Gray Maynard twice (a draw on Jan. 1, 2011, and fourth-round knockout on Oct. 8, 2011).
Henderson ended Edgar's reign on Feb. 26 by earning a unanimous decision.
"I've been kicking the idea around a little bit, and I just think that the way things are right now it's good timing," Edgar told ESPN.com. "I'm not saying I will never fight at 155 again, I'd just like to fight in big fights and there are some big fights out there at 145. "(Featherweight champion Jose Aldo's comments) gave me a little more incentive to go down to 145. I'm a competitor, and with someone saying they're going to send you on your way, you want to give it a shot. We'll see what happens."
Edgar, a diminutive lightweight, has been weighing all his fighting options since a split-decision rematch loss to Benson Henderson on Aug. 11.
Aldo apparently swayed Edgar toward leaving the lightweight division with a comment he made Monday.
"He said he wants to drop to featherweight, so I'm hoping he does that to end this story," Aldo told Brazil-based website tatame.com. "He's welcome here so that we shut him off and he goes to the lightweight or bantamweight classes."
But Edgar's boxing coach, Mark Henry, told ESPN.com that the decision to forsake the lightweight ranks for the 145-pound division isn't final. And a move to bantamweight isn't completely off the table.
A decision will be reached later this week when Edgar meets with his entire coaching staff.
"We're contemplating the right move," Henry said. "He can really be a 135-pound fighter if he wants. He walks around at 158; most guys at (bantamweight) do that.
"I don't want to say that (his decision) is final yet, we're all still trying to weigh the options. We're waiting on Ricardo (Almeida) to come back from California.
"We want to hook up with Ricardo, Renzo (Gracie) and the whole team. But with Aldo making his statement he's kind of making the decision for us, Frankie's, anyway.
"Jose Aldo might have fast-tracked it for us."
Edgar (14-3-1) won the lightweight title in April 2010 with a unanimous decision over B.J. Penn.
He retained the title three times, beating Penn by unanimous decision in a rematch (Aug. 28, 2010) and Gray Maynard twice (a draw on Jan. 1, 2011, and fourth-round knockout on Oct. 8, 2011).
Henderson ended Edgar's reign on Feb. 26 by earning a unanimous decision.
