UFC 156: Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar – A Closer Look

Truly capturing the the word “super”, this weekend’s UFC super Saturday show delivers an intriguing title match between two elite fighters from different weight classes. The “Super Fight”; a term used when addressing top UFC fighters colliding, materializes as 145-pound king, José Aldo defends his belt against former 155-pound ruler, Frankie Edgar in the UFC 156 headliner.

This being easily be the biggest test to Aldo’s championship reign, which is the 3rd longest amongst current UFC Champions. The Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino plays host to this exciting chapter in the organization’s history and what a better place than the home of the UFC, Las Vegas. The first ever PPV event of 2013 promises to be quite the memorable one, here is a closer look at the UFC featherweight championship bout going down that night.

José Aldo “Junior” (21-1) has been recognized for years as the man to beat at 145 lbs. He captured his first world title in 2009 with a 2nd round TKO of Mike Thomas Brown at WEC 44. Aldo made two successful WEC title defenses in 2010 before the UFC eventually absorbed the company. First, with a dominant performance over Urijah Faber earning a unanimous decision then a 2nd round TKO of Manny Gamburyan.

The Manaus, Brazil native then debuted in the UFC in 2011, defending his newly minted UFC featherweight strap twice with unanimous decisions. The first, at UFC 129 toppling heavy-handed striker Mark Hominick, then at UFC 136 over jujitsu ace, Kenny Florian. Florian normally a 155er, dropped down in weight to challenge Aldo but was unsuccessful in using his bigger frame as an advantage.

Aldo’s next title defense came last January at UFC 142 with a highlight reel TKO of then unbeaten Chad Mendes. One perfectly timed Aldo knee to Mendes’ face followed by some ground & pound ended the match inside of the opening stanza. Now, returning to the cage following his year- long layoff, the Brazilian meets a former title holder for the very first time in his UFC run.

Former UFC 155-pound champ, Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (14-3-1) enters the cage widely known as one of the UFC’s best conditioned athletes. He debuted in 2007 handing Tyson Griffin his first professional loss via points. After that, “The Answer” rattled off 5 consecutive wins including triumphs over Mark Bocek and Sean Sherk before earning a title shot in early 2010 against “The Progidy” BJ Penn.

As a 6-1 underdog, Edgar wasn’t supposed to masterfully maneuver in the cage, stuffing takedowns and landing clean strikes but, thats just what he did upsetting “The Prodigy” by way of unanimous decision. In the rematch, Edgar replicated his championship success grabbing another unanimous nod from the judges. The following year he faced rival Gray Maynard at UFC 125, the first man to ever beat Edgar.

They fought to a controversial draw before meeting in a rubber match later that year where Frankie avenged the loss to Maynard behind a vicious 4th round TKO at UFC 136. In 2012, Edgar endured the first back to back losses of his UFC career, dropping the UFC belt to Benson Henderson by decision at UFC 144 before losing a split decision to Henderson at UFC 150 last August.

Challening for the belt against a “Pound For Pound” great like José Aldo, who has gone unbeaten since 2005, would be a tall order for any man. Nevertheless, if there is a warrior willing to fight at a new weight class in order to accept the call, the answer is Frankie Edgar. The NCAA Division 1 wrestler has gone the championship rounds 6 times inside the Octagon so lack of experience isn’t a factor & with his combined takedown ability, excellent footwork and solid ground game the drop in weight might only enhance the New Jersey native’s stellar skills.

But, how will he respond to the weight cut without a tune-up fight and on a 2-fight losing streak? On the other hand, Aldo has faced powerful strikers, submission specialists and elite wrestlers before thus what Edgar brings to the table wont be anything that he hasn’t seen before. However, Aldo’s current opponent come Saturday night possesses various threatening qualities in a packaged form.

Its easier to see one of the aforementioned attacks coming distinctively versus all at once and following such a long absence from the cage, ring rust could play a factor in Aldo’s performance. Only one thing is for sure on Saturday, either the UFC featherweight champ is back, or a new era is set to be ushered in live from the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino this Superbowl weekend for the Super Fight at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar.