With a 5-round decision victory over Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night 66, former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar jumped from third place into first in the ‘Most Octagon Time‘ category. Clocking in at 5 hours, 35 minutes, and 23 seconds in the UFC cage, Edgar’s record is likely to stand a while: the fighters in the second and third place (Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn, respectively) are retired, while #4 Tito Ortiz no longer fights in the UFC. The next fighter in the list, Gleison Tibau, stands at 4:51:15. Even though Tibau fights often, he has never been in a 5-round fight and is not likely to headline a card or get a title shot any time soon, which means it will take him at least three fights to overtake Edgar (assuming Edgar stays inactive, which is not likely).
Looking further down the list, #6 Randy Couture is long retired. Which leaves the next 3 guys (Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida, and Michael Bisping) nearly an hour or more behind Frankie Edgar in total UFC fight time. Given the fact that most of Edgar’s fights are five-rounders, and usually tend to go the distance, I expect him to further separate from the rest of the pack in the coming year.