Frankie Edgar: Conor McGregor vs Chad Mendes is a No. 1 contender fight, not a title bout

"Early on when I heard that [Jose Aldo] was injured we threw our hat in and said, you know, we would be willing to step in. [The UFC] decided to go with Chad [Mendes] for that role. I think the explanation was that he was the number one contender, I was two at the time. You know those are kind of finicky the rankings. I think after he got the nod I think the new rankings came out and I was number one and neither of us fought so... it's kind of a tough spot. It's not the most favorable situation either. I mean Chad's coming in and taking this fight on 17 days notice so that's no easy task. But, I would've liked to get the nod over Chad. But, what are you gonna do. I don't really know. I think we're going to see what happens on the 11th. I'm not just going to sit around and wait for the winner to fight Aldo. This is really not an interim title, it's really more a number one contender fight. The winner gets to fight Aldo when he's healthy. With Aldo you just don't know when he's going to be healthy so maybe I can get a fight with one of them, the winner, before that. I think a lot of things gotta kind of come together and see how they pan out and take it from there."

-- Although Frankie Edgar appeared for just two minutes on Inside MMA Friday night (July 3), he assured fans that "The Answer" won't be riding the pine waiting for a second chance at UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. The former UFC Lightweight Champion (19-4-1) isn't upset anymore that he wasn't chosen to be the backup for the injured Jose Aldo at UFC 189 on July 11, and is just set on being ready to face another tough opponent. And with the current state of affairs in UFC being something of an injuries version of musical chairs, that could be anybody from Aldo to Chad Mendes to Conor McGregor to some force yet unknown.