All the answers: MMAmania.com exclusive interview with Frankie Edgar

Since his promotional debut at UFC 67 nearly three years ago, Frankie Edgar has climbed his way to the front of the lightweight division with wins over Tyson Griffin, Spencer Fisher, Hermes Franca and, most recently, former division champion Sean Sherk.

Although he suffered his first career loss along the way in April 2008 — a unanimous decision to surging wrestler Gray Maynard — Edgar bounced back stronger than ever, demonstrating improved standup skills in his bout against Sherk and refusing to let the "Muscle Shark" take the action to the canvas.

Even company president Dana White was shocked by the outcome, as he told Mike Straka of Fox News Fight Game, "My feeling was there’s no way possible for Frankie Edgar to win this fight. He came in with the most incredible game plan I’ve ever seen, and fought literally the perfect fight."

Now at 10-1 overall and 5-1 in the UFC, the New Jersey native is getting mentions of title consideration, should he stay on course. And while Edgar was initially slated to face nine-fight UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino in a co-main event at this Saturday’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): "Heavyweights" Finale, an injury forced "Batman" off the card.

Edgar was given a new opponent in Matt Veach (11-0), a largely unknown member of Matt Hughes’ H.I.T. Squad whose lone appearance in the UFC resulted in a first-round technical knockout victory over four-time high school Oklahoma State wrestling champion, Matt Grice.

It’s a dangerous change in opponents — fighting someone who might not have the name recognition but still brings the fight — and it no longer has the "co-main event" status. But that sort of thing never stopped "The Answer" from wanting to leave it all in the cage.

We caught up with Edgar while he was watching Wednesday’s two-hour finale of the TUF regular season to ask him if there was any hesitation in agreeing to fight Veach, see how he sizes up his new opponent, and talk about his journey up the ranks of the UFC’s lightweight division.

Here we go:

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I wanted to ask you about Matt Veach. He’s undefeated, but he doesn’t have as big of a name as some of your more recent opponents. Was there any hesitation in taking the fight for that reason?

Frankie Edgar: You know, man, I’m not really a guy big on picking fights. (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva said that’s the move they were going to make since Pellegrino got hurt, and I just said, "Okay." I didn’t second-guess it or anything.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): What do you know about Veach, based on tape from his previous fights?

Frankie Edgar: He’s obviously with a really great camp, training with Matt Hughes and those guys over at H.I.T. Squad. He’s big, strong, he formerly fought at 170, good wrestler — he’s a D-I wrestler — and he can scrap, man. He showed real resiliency in his last fight and showed some good power in his hands as well.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): In your last few fights, you’ve faced some really tough wrestlers in Gray Maynard and Sean Sherk. In terms of preparing, training with Almeida and those guys, how have you adjusted your game in that last couple of fights? What direction have you been heading in?

Frankie Edgar: Just to be well-rounded, that’s my biggest thing. I just try to perfect each skill as best I can, and then try to make the transitions as smooth as possible within those different areas of fighting, whether it be standing up or the ground game or the wrestling attacks.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Speaking of Pellegrino, you guys are both from New Jersey, and the UFC has announced that it’s coming to New Jersey — I think they said in March. First, have you asked to be on the card?

Frankie Edgar: They know I’m interested in it. My manager mentioned it to them. I think there’s definitely a possibility. We gotta see what fights and opportunities we have come up. I’m sure the UFC is going to want to see what matchups they’d like to see happen. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Secondly, given that Pellegrino is also from New Jersey, do you think that your paths might end up crossing there?

Frankie Edgar: Well, I don’t know, man. It’s up to the UFC. We were supposed to fight this time around, he ended up getting hurt. I don’t know how long his injury is going to keep him out, and his recovery time, so … I’m just trying to focus on this weekend, to be honest with ya.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): People are talking about you as a title contender. Looking forward to the 2010 season, and obviously you’re focused on Matt Veach, but what are you hoping the 2010 season brings? What do you expect moving forward?

Frankie Edgar: I think the best case scenario possible is a world title. You know, I just gotta stay focused, win my next couple fights, and I think I’ll be fighting for a title soon.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): You’ll be fighting on the TUF 10 Finale card. Have you been watching this season?

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, I’ve been watching it some. I’m actually watching the final show right now.

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Oh, right on, well I’ll leave you to it. I just watched it. It’s decent. Frankie, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us especially so close to fight time. I wanted to give you a chance to thank any sponsors or if you have any parting words for your fans for what we can expect to see here come Saturday.

Frankie Edgar: Yeah, I just want to thank my fans for all the support. Definitely tune in Saturday, I always bring the heat. That’s the plan. I want to thank my new sponsors, Affliction and Cagefighter.