Frankie Edgar’s coach makes UFC 200 claim and wants Conor McGregor to vacate his belt

Frankie Edgar is tired of waiting around.

'The Answer' looks set to fight at UFC 200 but it will not be the bout he wants. Speaking on Talking Brawls MMA podcast, Mark Henry, Edgar's coach, claimed his fighter would most likely be on the card for the massive UFC event, in Las Vegas, on July 9. Asked about UFC 200, Henry said:

"Frankie Edgar is probably going to fight. What we’re hoping for is McGregor getting rid of the belt. "This is the second fight where he is not fighting at 145 and he still hasn’t defended his belt. If he is not going to fight at 145 I think he needs to give up the belt."

Defenders of McGregor will say the UFC did call Edgar after lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196 with a broken foot. Henry disputes that the New Jersey native was ever really going to get a shot.

"You heard off Nate that they were calling him for two months about this fight just in case something happens. Even if Frankie’s groin was ok, they were never going to give this fight to Frankie.  "It’s typical non-torious. He just keeps running away from Frankie."

Henry also dismissed the defence that McGregor only won his featherweight belt in December and is only expected to defend it once or twice a year.

"This fight isn’t until July. He won’t be able to fight again until four or five months after that and that’s if he doesn’t get hurt in his training camp... It’s ridiculous, it’s not true sportsmanship. "He’s running his mouth saying Frankie was just a smaller version of Chad and he would fight him and that turned into a lie. Then he said he’d fight Frankie in July, he promised to defend the belt in July... The guy is a liar. He’s either a liar or afraid, or he’s both."

The most likely fight for Edgar, at UFC 200, would be against other leading contender Jose Aldo with Max Holloway also hoping to be involved in the conversation.