On October 13, 2012, MMA fans will be treated to the biggest featherweight fight in history as Jose Aldo defends his championship against Frankie Edgar (via Joshua Gross of ESPN).
Even while holding lightweight gold, UFC brass, as well as fans, wanted to see Edgar drop down and compete against the likes of Jose Aldo. Betting lines opened with some having Aldo as much as a -600 favorite. But if his fights against BJ Penn and Ben Henderson taught us anything, it’s that you can never count out Frankie’s heart.
Top skills aside, Frankie’s heart is what makes him an immediate threat to Aldo’s stranglehold on the Featherweight division. you can never count out the heart of a Champion. Sometimes against guys who outweighed him by 20-plus pounds, Frankie always brought the fight to his opponent and came out ready to fight.
So on October 13, in Rio, Jose Aldo is going to have his hands full with one of the best lighter weight fighters ever. For anybody thinking that Aldo is going to run through Frankie, just pull up tape of the first rounds of Edgar vs. Maynard. He can take punishment then recover quickly and dish it right back out.
Aldo won’t be enjoying much of a size or power advantage come fight night, and he will be up against a man who’s stepped into the Octagon 13 times before.
Against a guy who’s not going to dwarf him in size come fight night, expect Edgar to give one of the best performances of his life inside of the Octagon on that warm Brazilian night.
He’ll have a wrestling, and maybe even a power, advantage over the incumbent, and where there’s a clear wrestling advantage, you can never count a fighter out.
Vegas would like you to think that the smart money is on Aldo.
But, I’m thinking that Edgar is going to have something to say about that when the cage door closes.
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