Frankie Edgar Vows to Return Following Knockout Loss to Brian Ortega at UFC 222

Frankie Edgar may have lost but he’s far from defeated.

The former UFC lightweight champion suffered the first knockout of his career this past Saturday night after he was finished by Brian Ortega in the opening round of their fight at UFC 222.

Edgar accepted the matchup after featherweight champion Max Holloway suffered an injury that forced him out off the card. Unfortunately thanks to the loss, Edgar won’t get his shot at the title now but that was always a risk he was willing to take by fighting a different opponent.

On Monday, Edgar released his first statement about the fight with Ortega while vowing that he may be down but he’s not out.

“Saturday did not go as planned,” Edgar wrote on Twitter. “Congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones. Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don’t go unnoticed.

“All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.”

Saturday did not go as planned, congrats to Ortega he definitely got me with some good ones. Thanks to all my peers, my team, my friends, and my fans for their nice words, they don't go unnoticed. All I can do now is dust myself off and get ready to put it all on the line again.

— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) March 5, 2018

The knockout was the first time Edgar has lost a non-title fight since he fell to Gray Maynard in their first bout a decade ago.

While this setback means Edgar won’t be fighting for the featherweight title, it’s clear he still plans to return to action as he begins his climb back up the mountain in 2018.