Corey Anderson speaks highly of teammate Frankie Edgar after latter's heartbreaking loss and retirement

Corey Anderson recently opened up about former teammate Frankie Edgar's harrowing loss at UFC 281 and subsequent retirement. Edgar's MMA career ended on a disappointing note as the former champion suffered a first-round knockout loss at the recently concluded pay-per-view.

In a recent interview with The Schmo, Anderson gave his take on Edgar's final fight and retirement. Reminiscing on the 'The Answer's accomplishments and mentality, the Bellator light heavyweight said:

"Just remember Frankie Edgar as the man with the biggest heart in the arena. He was the 155 [pound] champ, he was never really big, probably walked around at 145 or 146 and still had the heart, tenacity and drive to go up and win that 155 pound belt. He fought for the belt at 145, even went down to 135... His heart never gave up."

Anderson added:

"After every defeat, he [Frankie Edgar] had the same mindset, the same heart, that he was the best. We talked and we tried to get him to take an easy fight. He always replied, 'I don't want no easy fight. I want a tough fight. I can beat anybody.' He always had that mindset."

Watch Corey Anderson's full interview below:

Frankie Edgar lost his last fight against Chris Gutierrez at UFC 281 via a brutal knockout in the first round. He was on a two-fight losing skid having previously lost to Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen, both via knockout.

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Frankie Edgar confirms his retirement from MMA but keeps door open for a potential boxing fight

Frankie Edgar confirmed at the UFC 281 pre-fight media day that he does not intend on returning to the octagon but would be open to venturing into boxing if the right opportunities present themselves.

When asked if his fight against Gutierrez was definitely his last, he replied:

"This is my last UFC fight, my last MMA fight for sure. Most likely 100% it's my last fight. But if there's some boxing, if Pacquiao wants to do an exhibition, I know he's doing exhibitions now. I could be open to something crazy like that. It would have to be a really really good one."

Edgar retired from MMA after a long and illustrious career. He holds the record for having the longest total fight time in UFC history, with almost eight hours of octagon time (7 hours, 57 minutes and 10 seconds). He also held the UFC lightweight championship, defeating B.J. Penn at UFC 112 back in 2010.

He retired with a record of 24-11-1.