Frankie Edgar Beats Cub Swanson, Calls for Winner of Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega

Frankie Edgar isn’t going anywhere but back to the top.

That’s the message the former champion passed along after a dominant performance over Cub Swanson in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City on Saturday night.

Edgar was making his return to action just a few weeks after suffering a loss to No. 1 ranked featherweight contender Brian Ortega, who is now facing champion Max Holloway at UFC 226 in July.

Coming back from the first knockout loss of his career, Edgar showed no signs of being afraid to trade strikes with Swanson as he took the center of the Octagon and began working his boxing game as soon as the fight was underway.

Edgar was fast on his feet and quick to the punch, moving in and out before Swanson could land much of anything in return.

Midway through the first round, Edgar slammed home a big right hand that rocked Swanson as he backed up against the cage before recovering and working his way back out to the middle.

It was more of the same as the fight continued with Edgar still acting as the aggressor while Swanson was trying to find his timing for counter shots.

Edgar closes the distance and lands a nice shot on Swanson, but Cub stuffs the takedown! #UFCAC pic.twitter.com/HXM7OkFqCk

— UFC (@ufc) April 22, 2018

Edgar’s footwork and movement were giving Swanson a lot of trouble as he was sitting back and waiting too often throughout the fight. Swanson did manage to land a stiff right hand just before the round ended when he clipped Edgar coming forward with a combination of his own.

The final round was nearly a carbon copy of the first two with Edgar’s boxing causing Swanson to be a little too tentative throughout all 15 minutes.

Edgar’s volume was far greater during the fight and he even managed to connect with better power when the fighters did manage launch strikes at each other in the few furious exchanges that happened over three rounds.

When it was over, the judges all agreed with 30-27 scores being handed down in favor of Edgar, who gets back on track with a win in front of his home state audience.

Afterwards, Edgar immediately turned his attention back to the title at 145 pounds.

“That title shot, I risked it, I was doing really well against Brian Ortega and he caught me with a shot,” Edgar said addressing his previous fight. “I’d love to fight the winner of those two guys [Max Holloway and Brian Ortega]. I know that’s going down in July. We’ll see what happens.”