New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame to Honor Toms River's Frankie Edgar

Friday, 14 September 2012 08:02

by Garv

The New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame is extremely proud of its inaugural class of inductees to the New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame. This class will be honored at the induction dinner gala to be held at the beautiful Crowne Plaza Meadowlands on December 7, 2012.

On December 7th, UFC champion Frankie Edgar will be inducted as New Jersey’s MMA Fighter of the Year.

Frankie Edgar wrestled at Toms River High School East, making it to the state championship tournament three times. Edgar continued wrestling at Clarion University where he qualified for the nationals all four years.

Edgar accepted a fight with undefeated fighter Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 and Edgar won. Edgar followed with a victory over Mark Bocek at UFC 73. At UFC 78 he defeated Spencer Fisher. Edgar suffered his first loss at UFC Fight Night 13 against Gray Maynard but rebounded with a Fight of the Night victory against Hermes França at UFC: Silva vs. Irvin. Edgar then defeated former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and defeated Matt Veach on The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale.

At UFC 112, Edgar defeated lightweight champion BJ Penn. ESPN announced Edgar as a nominee for Best Upset of the Year at the 2010 ESPY Awards. At UFC 118 Edgar again defeated Penn for the championship. Edgar’s next title defense was another match against Gray Maynard, at UFC 125. This rematch ended as a draw. Edgar fought Maynard for a third time at UFC 136 and won while earning Knockout of the Night honors. Edgar then faced Benson Henderson at UFC 144. Henderson defeated Edgar via a razor close decision as the bout earned Fight of the Night honors. A rematch with Henderson took place at UFC 150. Edgar lost via a highly questionable and roundly criticized split decision.

Tickets to the awards dinner can be purchased by calling 201-538-4843 or online at www.njmmaawards.com. Discount hotel room rates at the Crowne Plaza can be also obtained by calling 877-227-6963 and mentioning the Hall of Fame dinner.

New Jersey is building a rich tradition in non-boxing martial arts and our goal is to recognize these individuals and entities. Our goal is to honor those involved with New Jersey martial arts and to celebrate with them, at an evening with family and friends. Our focus is on those directly involved in New Jersey martial arts. This truly is a historical moment in our State’s combat sports history as our intent is to have the New Jersey State Martial Arts Hall of Fame continue for many years and serve as a record for those outstanding individuals involved in martial arts in our State.

We hope you will join us on December 7, 2012. Mark your calendars now and purchase your tickets early so you can be sure to be a part of New Jersey martial arts history. Call 201-538-4843 or visit www.njmmaawards.com and get your ticket and join us in a historic night for New Jersey and for martial arts. It is certain to be a terrific night with family, friends, fun, and music.