UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar is ending his retirement but he’s not returning to MMA.
Instead, the former UFC lightweight champion is taking on the challenge of a bare-knuckle fight as part of the first ever BKFC card in New Jersey on Oct. 4.
At the event, Edgar is expected to clash with fellow UFC veteran Jimmie Rivera, who has been competing in BKFC for the past few years while amassing a 2-2-1 record overall in the promotion.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting following an initial report from Yahoo! Sports.
Edgar returns to action nearly three years after retiring from the sport following a loss to Chris Gutierrez in the UFC. The fight served as Edgar’s third consecutive knockout loss in a row and he ultimately decided to call it a career.
Since that time, Edgar, 43, was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame while opening his own gym and hosting a podcast. Now he looks to rekindle some of the spark that made him a threat across multiple divisions while competing in the UFC.
Edgar returns to face Rivera as part of the BKFC event headed to the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. with the card headlined by another pair of UFC veterans as Mike Perry clashes with Jeremy Stephens in a “King of Violence” title fight.
Additional fights for the BKFC card in New Jersey are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Mike Heck contributed to this report
