Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar II will fight for the interim featherweight title.
Current champion Conor McGregor is dead set on securing a future at heavier weight classes. This means parallel contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar will fight for a second time, and for the interim featherweight title. This is going to be a very evenly-matched, tenacious, fun contest.
In the first fight, back in 2013, Jose Aldo got off to a strong start. Chopping low kicks and straight punches kept Edgar at bay throughout much of the early going. While Aldo ultimately won the decision, Edgar rallied late. Frankie’s work rate began to compensate for Aldo’s significant strikes, and he ended the fight on a strong note. Since then, Edgar has pieced together an ultra-impressive five fight win streak. Aldo, after defending his belt three more times, lost by first round KO to Conor McGregor.
We have seen Frankie Edgar continuing to evolve and add tools to his game. Before, as an undersized lightweight, he had to rely on speed, timing, and accuracy to stifle the power, strength, and size of his opponents. At featherweight, Edgar is no longer undersized. This allows him to get off with more effective offense, and not have to be the matador. This showed in his most recent fight against Chad Mendes. Not only did Edgar look quick and agile like usual, but he was able to stun and finish Mendes in an early exchange. Against similarly-sized opponents, Edgar’s offense is actually quite dangerous.
Additionally, Edgar’s grappling is able to be more threatening. Against Cub Swanson, a heavy-fisted boxer, Edgar scored takedown after takedown. From the top position, Edgar’s work rate shined as he never stayed motionless. He had a similar performance in his trilogy bout against BJ Penn. For once in Edgar’s career he was able to showcase his Cain Velasquez-like top game, and even finish the fight.
It’ll be very interesting to see how Aldo approaches this rematch. Based on the training material I’ve seen, Aldo appears adamant about returning to his roots as a dangerous muay thai striker, and not be so caught up in winning the five-round marathon. This could either be very good or very bad for him. Edgar is about as resilient as they come, so the thought of Aldo finishing a prime Frankie Edgar is difficult to imagine. Edgar is also experienced in five-round contests, so we may see Aldo get off early like he did in the first fight only to fade late and allow Edgar to end strong.
One x-factor that I think we all need to take into account is Aldo’s mental state. The quick loss to McGregor was punishing, but Aldo chalked it up as a fluke. We saw Aldo’s teammate Renan Barao go through a very similar psychology process in his first loss to TJ Dillashaw. Edgar is a very different style match up than McGregor is, but I think it’s dangerous for Aldo not to acknowledge his faults. Of course, we never know exactly what’s going on in a fighter’s mind, but Edgar’s mentality differs greatly. Edgar should be flowing with confidence coming into the Octagon on Saturday as result of all his recent success.
The pure striking prowess of Jose Aldo is still a very large hurdle Edgar needs to get over. Very few fighters can stand in the fire with him without immediately retreating. Obviously, the low round kicks of Aldo are his most known weapon, but Aldo throws his hands with blistering velocity too. They’re both powerful and fast, but deplete resources quickly. Because of this, we see Aldo fade in later rounds, and conserve energy whenever possible. This contrasts greatly to Edgar’s high volume, high mobility boxing and wrestling. Aldo dealt with Edgar’s mobility by chopping him down, and landing enough early to secure the points victory.
Conclusion
It will be very interesting to see if this same method will work again, because all signs point to Aldo coming out hard and fast to reclaim his grip on the division. This could bring him fantastic, immediate success, or it could burn out in the long run. Edgar is extremely durable, efficient, and with his improved offensive tools I think we’ll see Edgar surpass the former pound-for-pound great.
Who do you think will win in Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar II?
