Well, that didn’t take long. Just nine days after announcing his drop to featherweight, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar accepted a fight with featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 153, replacing an injured Erik Koch.
The news broke very early Friday morning on MMAJunkie and in Friday’s edition of USA Today.
For UFC President Dana White, the replacement is a virtual reversal of the nightmare scenario that led to the cancellation last week of UFC 151. Whereas light heavyweight champion Jon Jones refused new matchups following the injury departure of challenger Dan Henderson, Edgar’s stepping up against Aldo actually improves the UFC 153 main event, at least from a name-recognition standpoint.
White alluded to the parallels in his comments.
“Obviously, we’ve had a rough couple of weeks here at the UFC, and then sure enough, I walk in to work today, and Erik Koch is hurt,” White said. “But Frankie Edgar, being the stud and the warrior that he is, steps up and accepts this fight.”
The 30-year-old Edgar (14-3-1) lost his last two fights at lightweight; both were title bouts with current champ Benson Henderson. This will be Edgar’s seventh consecutive fight for a UFC belt.
Aldo (21-1), who is only 25 but widely considered one of the three or four best fighters on the planet, has successfully defended the UFC featherweight championship three consecutive times.
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