It took a pretty wild set of circumstances, but Frankie Edgar vs. Jose Aldo will soon become reality. The former lightweight champion has dropped two straight close decisions to Benson Henderson, and following the August defeat to Bendo, Edgar made the decision to drop to 145. At first he wasn’t going to get an immediate title shot vs. Aldo, but when Erik Koch pulled out of UFC 153 with a knee injury, Edgar stepped up without hesitation. Unfortunately, a motorcycle accident put Aldo out of commission for the rest of the year, but the UFC obviously sees Aldo vs. Edgar is much more marketable and probably competitive than Aldo vs. Erik Koch.
This fight has now been re-scheduled for UFC 156 on Super Bowl weekend, and hopefully 2013 isn’t nearly as injury-riddled as this year. Edgar talked about his fight with Aldo in an interview with MMA Fight Corner:
“I’m going to do it all. I don’t like to go in there saying I’m going to do one thing. I’m a mixed martial artist and I feel I’m well rounded enough to take the fight wherever it needs to be. I think I can stand with pretty much anybody, I think I can wrestle with anybody and I feel I can compete on the floor with jiu jitsu with anybody. He’s definitely a tall task in an opponent, but I just think fighting guys at the caliber fights I’ve had throughout the years has only got me better and I think Jose will do that as well.”
As far as Aldo’s vicious leg kicks? Edgar is obviously going to prepare for that, especially after Ben Henderson chopped away at Edgar’s legs in the opening round of their rematch.
“When Benson came out he kind of was throwing a low leg kick, which did throw me off a little bit. But I felt I made the adjustment within that first round, and I feel that rounds two through five he didn’t really catch me with it at all the rest of the fight. I’m sure that’s something Jose is going to pay attention to, being that he’s such a devastating leg kicker, but I’ve been working my Muay Thai and working some things. Like I’ve been saying, this challenge is going to make me step up and address it.”
Aldo has proven to be one of the most dominant champions in MMA today. He took the FW title from Mike Brown in the WEC and has defended it successfully 5 times from the WEC, to AldovsFaberFC, to the UFC. It’s arguably Edgar’s toughest test, and for him to win, Edgar says he’s going to push the pace like he normally does.
“It’s tough to really put any chinks in any of these guys armor that are at this high level now. I just think I’m going to have to push him and test his mettle. I think that’s what I do well, I push the pace and that’s what I’m going to have to do in this fight for sure.”
I can’t wait for this fight as a prelude to Super Bowl XLVII when the Seahawks play the Texans. Fans have discussed in the past whether Edgar would drop to 145 or if Aldo would eventually move to 155 so we can get this superfight in motion, and with one of the two outcomes coming to fruition, all we need is these two to deliver at the highest level and provide us a great battle on February 2nd.