At UFC 156, Frankie Edgar will take on Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight championship. Although the chance to hold UFC gold is enough to motivate any professional fighter, “The Answer” has the opportunity to become the third fighter in history to win gold in multiple divisions.
Currently, online bookie Bovada has Edgar as a 2-to-1 underdog against Aldo, which translates into a 33.3 percent chance of obtaining this lofty goal. Despite what the odds suggest, Edgar has a much better shot at achieving greatness.
It is understandable that Aldo would be the betting favorite; however, it doesn’t appear that oddsmakers haven’t taken into account the effects of a 13-month layoff on the champion.
Anyone who saw UFC 129 knows that Aldo is susceptible to ring rust. After a training injury kept him out of action for seven months, “Scarface” faded immensely in the later rounds of his return bout against Mark Hominick.
When you consider that Edgar is able to keep his foot on the gas for 25 minutes while applying constant pressure to his opponent, the proverbial cards have been dealt in a way that suggests an upset.
In 2003, Randy Couture became the first man to hold gold in unique weight classes. After losing the UFC heavyweight championship, “The Natural” decided to cut down to 205 pounds and test his luck. He defeated Chuck Liddell for the interim light heavyweight championship and a place in the history books.
It wasn’t until five years later when B.J. Penn also joined the elite club. Penn surprisingly defeated Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight championship in 2004, and then pummeled Joe Stevenson to capture the lightweight championship in 2008.
Since shocking the world with upset victories over Penn and former champion Sean Sherk, it is foolish to count Edgar out regardless of which opponent stands across the cage.
Even though Aldo has a reputation of being one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters, I would estimate that the odds on this fight are very close to even.
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