Frankie Edgar’s final MMA fight has been set.
After Edgar suffered a KO loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden last November, he wasn’t sure if he would fight again. Yet, after some time away he made it known he wanted one final fight at MSG at UFC 281 and it would be his retirement scrap.
Now, according to ESPN, Edgar has gotten his wish as he’s booked to face Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 on November 12 at Madison Square Garden. The main event of the card sees Israel Adesanya defending his middleweight title against Alex Pereira.
Frankie Edgar (24-10-1) is on a two-fight losing skid and coming off a KO loss to ‘Chito’ Vera and before that, suffered a 28-second KO los to Cory Sandhagen. Edgar is 40-years-old and his last win was a split decision main event victory over Pedro Munhoz back in August of 2020.
The former UFC lightweight champion is 4-6 in his last 10 and during his career holds notable wins over Cub Swanson, Yair Rodriguez, Chad Mendes, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Gray Maynard, and Sean Sherk among others. Edgar will also be a future Hall of Famer as he has been with the promotion since UFC 67 in 2007.
Chris Gutierrez (18-4-2) is riding a seven-fight unbeaten streak after losing his debut by submission to Raoni Barcelos. In his last fight, he scored a TKO win over Danaa Batgerel, and before that, beat Felipe Colares and Andre Ewel by decision. In his UFC run, he also has a TKO win over Vince Morales, and decision wins over Geraldo de Freitas and Ryan McDonald while also having a draw against Cody Durden.
With the addition of Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutierrez, UFC 281 is as follows:
- Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira
- Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili
- Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Molly McCann
- Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann
- Seungwoo Choi vs. Michael Trizano
- Silvana Gomez Juarez vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Renato Moicano vs. Brad Riddell
- Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola
- Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles
- Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Andre Petroski vs. Wellington Turman
- Julio Arce vs. Montel Jackson
- Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutierrez
