UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar

Jose Aldo (21-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (14-3-1)

Frankie Edgar will look to be the first to finally dethrone Jose Aldo as the two headline UFC 156’s main card on Saturday night with the featherweight title bout.

Edgar is going for the record books in this one, looking to be just the third UFC fighter to hold titles in two different divisions in his career. A previous lightweight champion, this will be his first featherweight bout. And it won’t be easy for him getting thrown into the fire against the world’s top featherweight who is only getting better at age 26. Aldo has easily fended off whomever UFC President Dana White has thrown his way, beating top fighters such as Chad Mendes, Kenny Florian and Mark Hominick in his past three fights. Although Edgar is talented, he’s coming off two straight losses, and fighting somebody like Aldo in his first featherweight bout will be too much to handle. Take the favorite ALDO to retain his belt in Las Vegas.

Since winning the WEC featherweight championship in 2009, Aldo has defended his belt a total of five times and three times for UFC since his title was promoted. Knockouts are his favorite way to win with 13 of his 21 career wins coming that way. That includes his last fight against Mendes, who did not make it out of the first round. "Junior" Aldo is also comfortable taking it to the judges, however, as he did against Florian and Hominick, winning unanimous decisions in both bouts. Aldo’s ground game is as good as it comes in MMA and his legs will be able to help him endure this potentially long championship bout. Also, at 5-foot-7, he has a one-inch height advantage on Edgar.

Edgar is coming off two losses, both decisions to Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight belt. The second of those was a split decision but sparked Edgar’s decision to move to the featherweight division where he could earn another title attempt. "The Answer" Edgar’s endurance is his key, with eight of his 14 career wins coming via decision. A talented wrestler, he’ll need to really try to make Aldo work early in order to have a chance of tiring him out and scoring points with the judges. Look for him to go for the takedown early and often, but Aldo’s keen defense will be able to counter. Play against.