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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
An injury to featherweight challenger Erik Koch has opened the door to one super fight for the UFC. According to a report from USAToday.com, former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar will replace Koch at UFC 153, and will take on Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship.
The injury to Koch allows Edgar to forego any warmup fight at 145 lbs., and he'll step into his seventh straight UFC title fight following a controversial decision loss at UFC 150 this month. Edgar took on Ben Henderson for the second straight time, and most saw their rematch in his favor. Unfortunately, the split decision came down in favor of Henderson, and Edgar was left with a decision to move down or move to the back of the line at 155 lbs.
"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," UFC President Dana White said. "But Frankie Edgar, being the stud and the warrior that he is, steps up and accepts this fight."
"I'm pumped. I think that people are going to be very excited for this fight. Frankie has had a tough go the last couple of times with the judges, but a lot of people think he belongs at 145 pounds. Well, here we go – Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar. People have been wanting to see this fight for a long time."
Indeed, it's a fight that has been talked about for years, and was contingent upon one of the fighters switching weight classes. Edgar's the first to do so, and he'll now get a chance to join B.J. Penn and Randy Couture as the only two-division Champions in UFC history.
Aldo will attempt to defend his belt for a sixth straight time, and will fight the biggest named opponent he's yet faced in his MMA career in the former champion. UFC 153 takes place on October 13 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Penick's Analysis: I'm really disappointed we can't see what Koch has for Aldo just yet, but at the same time, this is such a fantastic fight that I can't complain in the least. Edgar-Aldo is a fight that's been talked about for a long time, and now it's going to happen; in Brazil, no less. Regardless of the sham decision loss to Henderson at UFC 150 and the legitimate decision loss at UFC 144, Edgar is an elite talent regardless of where he's fighting. He's immediately the biggest fight of Aldo's career, and this is going to be a fantastically interesting matchup come Oct. 13. How Aldo deals with Edgar's boxing, wrestling, and speed will be as interesting to see as how Edgar deals with Aldo's speed, vicious striking, and jiu jitsu skills. This is just a great, great fight, and I can't wait to see it go down.
[Frankie Edgar art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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