Edgar gets Featherweight title shot at UFC 153

[JWGunslinger]

Incase you haven't already heard the news sweeping the MMA world, Erick Koch has been forced out of his FW title fight against Jose Aldo due to an injury sustained in training. The real news here is who's taking his place, former Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar.

After losing 2 fights in a row to current LW champ Ben Henderson many fans and critics were practically begging Frankie to drop and about 2 weeks ago he made the drop official. Since then everyone was wondering who he would fight in a #1 contender match, but now the guessing is over and he's getting the title shot right off the bat. Aldo is an unbelievably strong champion an has not lost in his UFC career, but will the wrestling prowess, heart and size of Edgar be too much for him?

This fight takes UFC 153 and makes it an unbelievable card, although Edgar vs Aldo as a champion vs champion or before Edgar lost his would have been a better sell but make no mistake, this one still has the anticipation and draw to get great PPV sells and such a big event along with 152 will be great to get people off 151 and focused on the future thy is looking very bright for fight fans.

So what're your thoughts on the fight/how it will go? How will this impact 153 and does Frankie deserve a title shot coming off 2 losses? Discuss

 

[jmt225]

Well, this is what everyone has wanted since Edgar lost to Bendo the first time around. It's an intriguing fight, and a very good thing for the 145 division to get another big name there to challenge Aldo.

Anyways, the fight is a hard one to call. The thing with Edgar is that he likes to get off to a slow start. In the Maynard fights we saw him get clipped early on in both of them and nearly finished. Edgar has amazing recovery and heart, but if Aldo hurts him, I don't see Edgar being able to recover from that. Aldo is simply an animal and when he smells blood, he will pounce and rip your fucking head off.

That said, if this fight is still going by the time the 3rd Round rolls around, then Edgar will takes control of it and win rounds 3, 4, and 5 due to cardio alone. Edgar has amazing cardio, while Aldo has shown in the past that the cut to 145 takes a good bit out of him. Edgar outpoints anyone who is weakening against him.

However, I see Aldo catching Edgar and putting him away in the 1st or 2nd. That sounds like I'm underestimating little Frankie, but I assure you I'm not. I just have the utmost respect in Jose Aldo's abilities to finish when given the chance, and Edgar has always left himself open early on in fights to get rocked. It's just how he is... it takes him a round before he finds his rhythm.

Also, I want to mention that this happening leaves for another interesting fight to happen to determine a #1 Contender at 145 to face the winner of Aldo/Edgar, and that's the Korean Zombie vs. Erik Koch. Koch got a bad rap from fans due to getting a title shot prematurely, but he's still a very explosive and talented fighter, and I can't wait to see what would happen if he steps in there with the Korean Zombie, who's easily my favorite fighter at 145. Moreover, KZ winning that fight in impressive fashion (which I think he would)... him vs. either Aldo or Edgar would be fucking awesome.

So, yeah... Koch having to step out of the title shot due to injury (which I don't believe is really the case) is definitely the best thing to have happened for the Feathweight Division since it came to the UFC. It's a great situation for everybody, and just the kind of news the UFC needed after having such a bad couple of weeks.

 

[Fizzy]

So what're your thoughts on the fight/how it will go?

How do I see this fight playing out? Aldo, destruction. Nothing more, nothing less. Everybody will come out of the woodwork calling me out on underestimating Frankie after him proving everybody wrong time and time again, but the fact is, Frankie has never been in the octagon with an animal like Aldo.

BJ Penn has great boxing, but not much else in the striking department, so when he went up against somebody with equal boxing who also happened to be significantly faster than him, he struggled. Maynard managed to catch Frankie multiple times and hurt him despite being much slower and possessing sub-par striking. Both of these fighters are tailor made for Frankie's fighting style.

Stylistically, Frankie has always relied on his speed and cardio to get the win. What happens when he fights somebody just as fast, more athletic, more explosive, and more dangerous than himself? He loses, plain and simple. Frankie may dance away from Aldo for a round, but soon enough he'll realize that an Aldo leg kick is nothing like a Bendo leg kick. He can't catch Aldo's leg kicks, he can't stop Aldo's leg kicks, and after a few kicks, he will be struggling to lift his leg off the ground let alone run away from Jose.

I'd also like to point out, Frankie has never fought at 145 before. Despite the fact that he doesn't cut much weight for 155, we don't know how he'll feel or perform during his first ever fight at 145. He's got a little more than a month to cut down and train for a fight at 145. There is no way this won't be a factor come October 13th.

In the end, this will be a showcase fight for Aldo. Everybody has always held the weak division card over his head. Now he will finally get to showcase the fact that he is on par, if not ahead of Anderson Silva, GSP, and Jon Jones in terms of skill and dominance. I personally can't wait to watch Edgar get smashed.

How will this impact 153 and does Frankie deserve a title shot coming off 2 losses?

The UFC called him and he accepted. That's all there is to it. I doubt many fighters were jumping at the opportunity to fight Aldo on short notice, so when Edgar said yes, it really was a no brainer. This is the fight everybody wants to see, this is the fight that will solidify Aldo as a legend, this is the fight that needed to happen. It doesn't matter that Frankie is coming off two losses.

 

[wrestlingfan]

The only way Edgar can beat Aldo is through his heart and his wrestling. Edgar's heart has came into play against guys with KO power like Maynard, and he was able to withstand Bendo. However being able to survive Aldo is a different story. Chances are he won't. If Edgar almost got finished by Maynard, who doesn't have as much speed and cardio as Aldo, I'm scared to see how he'll fare against Jose.

His wrestling can come into play here also. If he's lucky enough to get a takedown on Jose, it's 50/50 if he can survive on the ground due to Jose's BJJ game, and if he can dish out Ground & Pound. Unless he mixes up his striking and wrestling, we could easily see another Mendes fight.

So Edgar's only intangibles of beating Jose, will still fail in the long run.