FRANKIE EDGAR was brutally knocked out in the final fight of his career.
The former lightweight champion locked horns with Chris Gutierrez on a stacked UFC 281 card at Madison Square Garden on Sunday morning.
New Jersey native hoped to close out his legendary career with victory in his backyard.
But a nasty knee up the middle from sniper Gutierrez made sure there was no fairytale ending for the legend.
A dejected Edgar said: “I love this sport, man. I didn’t want to go out like that.
“This sport is a bitch. I got my family here, that is all that matters.”
Surprisingly there, was no touch of gloves to kick off the bantamweight bout.
Edgar was happy to operate on the outside early doors and looked to time his entries towards the rangier Gutierrez.
Guatemalan Gutierrez eventually found the chin of the battle-weathered Edgar with a big left hook.
He followed that up moments later with a hard spinning back fist, although Edgar’s chin withstood the hard strike.
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Gutierrez quickly went back to mixing good footwork with several feints.
And he lulled Edgar into a false sense of security, perfectly timing a counter knee flush to the veteran’s head as he shot in for a takedown.
Edgar was out before he hit the canvas, a fact Gutierrez was aware of and prompted him not to land any more academic strikes.
A heartbroken Edgar gave the 135lb prospect his dues after the fight, saying:
He added: “Congrats to Chris. This sport is not always so forgiving. I love everybody.”
