Frankie Edgar Booked For UFC 281, Likely To Be Final Fight

Frankie Edgar is getting his expected retirement bout.

Edgar will take on Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 on November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ESPN initially reported the news and MMA Fighting confirmed it.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto said Edgar confirmed that it will be his last fight “unless someone gets lippy in Seaside next summer.”

It’ll be Edgar’s 30th UFC bout.

Edgar, 40, started his MMA career in the New York underground scene. The New Jersey native then went back across the Hudson River to gain experience in the regional MMA circuit.

He debuted in the promotion at UFC 67 in the lightweight division. He had a successful – and tough – first win against Tyson Griffin by a last-minute kneebar. He won via decision and also earned his first fight bonus.

Edgar would eventually claim the lightweight title from BJ Penn at UFC 112 and defended it at UFC 118. He lost the title to Benson Henderson in his fourth title defense.

Edgar then moved to 135 pounds, but hasn’t found much success there. He’s suffered back-to-back knockout losses against Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen.

Gutierrez will be facing the biggest name in his UFC career. He is on a seven-fight winning streak.

UFC 281 will be headlined by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and former rival Alex Pereira.