UFC Fight Night ‘Edgar vs. Swanson’ Notebook: On His Terms

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Once viewed as the prototype for the modern lightweight, Yves Edwards can see the finish line to what has been a long, eventful and outstanding career.

Edwards will seek his first win in almost two years when he meets Akbarh Arreola at UFC Fight Night “Edgar vs. Swanson” on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Winless in his last four appearances, the 38-year-old American Top Team mainstay concedes he soon will have exhausted his time in mixed martial arts.

“Especially after the last year that I had, I’ve had to set some new goals [and] readjust things,” Edwards told Sherdog.com. “For me, right now, I’m considering this it. I don’t know what’s going to come after this fight. Win or lose, I don’t know. I’m not even thinking that far ahead. At this point, I’m training like this is the last one. I still love the game. I still love doing this. I don’t want it to be [my last fight], but it very well could be. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter.”

The “Thugjitsu Master” last competed at a UFC Fight Night event in June, when he submitted to a rear-naked choke from Piotr Hallmann at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M. It followed a no-contest with Yancy Medeiros and consecutive split decision losses to Daron Cruickshank and Isaac Vallie-Flagg. Responsibilities away from the cage have begun to tug at Edwards.

“I’ve got to think about everything else,” he said. “I’ve been away from home for weeks. I’ve seen my son twice in two months. I’ve seen my wife for three weekends in the past two months. That part is not fun. As I get older, family becomes more and more important.”

Arreola made his first appearance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC on Fox 12 in July, when he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Tiago dos Santos e Silva. The 31-year-old Mexican has finished 21 of his 22 professional victories, 16 of them via submission.

“He’s tough,” said Edwards, who debuted in October 1997. “I don’t think he’s very dynamic. He doesn’t look flashy or very quick [or] very fast, but he’s tough and he’s always in the fight [and] always trying to win. Even if he’s been getting beat up for 14 minutes, that 15th minute, he’s still trying to win the fight.”

A ‘HANDSOME’ RETURN

Matt Wiman disappeared from the MMA scene following a knockout loss to T.J. Grant at UFC on Fox 6 in January 2013. A little less than two years later, the “Handsome” one will return to face the aforementioned Vallie-Flagg in a lightweight showcase.

Wiman, 31, reinserts himself into a lightweight division that looks far different than the one he left, with the emergence of fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rafael dos Anjos, Myles Jury and Rustam Khabilov, along with the arrival of former Bellator MMA champion Eddie Alvarez. A graduate of Season 5 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, he has quietly compiled a strong 9-5 record inside the Octagon. In Vallie-Flagg, Wiman confronts a seasoned grinder on a two-fight losing streak looking to rebound from a decision loss to onetime Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Takanori Gomi.

“I’m excited to get back to work,” Wiman told UFC.com in his pre-fight interview, “and [I] have a tough opponent.”

THIS & THAT

UFC Fight Night “Edgar vs. Swanson” will be the 299th show the Ultimate Fighting Championship has staged in its history ... Frankie Edgar has pocketed “Fight of the Night” bonuses at a record seven events: UFC 67, UFC Fight Night “Silva vs. Irvin,” “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale, UFC 125, UFC 144, UFC 156 and UFC 162 ... Jackson-Wink MMA standout Cub Swanson holds the rank of black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Rigan Machado, the nephew of the late Carlos Gracie ... Edson Barboza has held titles inside the Renaissance MMA and Ring of Combat organizations ... American Top Team’s Brad Pickett has fought in six different countries: the United States, England, Sweden, Ireland, Costa Rica and Wales ... Alexey Oleinik has executed 38 submissions in his career: 10 by Ezekiel choke, nine by rear-naked choke, five by triangle choke, four by armbar, three by heel hook, three by neck crank, two by arm-triangle choke and one each by guillotine choke and scarf hold ... The two men to whom Team Alpha Male’s Joseph Benavidez has lost, Demetrious Johnson and Dominick Cruz, own a cumulative record of 41-3-1 ... When Paige VanZant was born on March 26, 1994, the top five movies at the domestic box office were “The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,” “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” “Schindler’s List,” “The Paper” and “Above the Rim” ... Ruslan Magomedov has defeated two former UFC heavyweight champions -- Tim Sylvia and Ricco Rodriguez -- during his current seven-fight winning streak ... Middleweight Roger Narvaez works as a firefighter in Corpus Christi, Texas ... Nick Hein has never fought outside of his native Germany ... South Korean prospect Doo Ho Choi has rattled off nine straight wins, finishing seven of them via knockout or technical knockout.