Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will not be making his bare knuckle debut as anticipated this Saturday at BKFC 82 in Newark, New Jersey.
“The Answer” Edgar, who retired from mixed martial arts competition in 2022, was slated to face fellow former UFC and New Jersey native Jimmie Rivera on the card.
Instead, Rivera will now face Timothy Mason according to a report from NJ.com.
BKFC president David Feldman confirmed that the promotion but was hopeful the UFC legend will compete for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in the future.
“After further review with our medical officer, we decided that Frankie Edgar was not going to compete this Saturday,” Feldman said. “We’re going to look into it and see what his future looks like, but he will not be competing this Saturday.”
One can only speculate that Edgar may have put himself in the position where both the promotion and the commission were going to look a little deeper at his status before clearing him to fight. With both fans and family against Edgar’s return to combat sports, attention grew towards health concerns that might prevent him from being cleared.
“My wife was a little concerned with me doing this as well,” Edgar told MMA Fighting in September. “I’ve been doing this for so long, it’s tough to walk away. I’m not going into this naïve. I understand the risks. I’m willing to take that chance, I guess you could say. The juice has got to be worth the squeeze, and I feel like it is.
“They were all a little against it honestly. I got my wife on board maybe. Maybe she’s not happy about it, but she ain’t going to leave me, I guess. That’s a plus. The kids, my boys kind of understand it. My daughter definitely is not too cool with it but one more time and we’ll see how it goes.”
BKFC 82 takes place at the Prudential Center and is headlined by “Platinum” Mike Perry vs. Jeremy Stephens.
