UFC 200: Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – UFC 200 is right around the corner, July 9th from the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Nevada. It is set to be the biggest card in UFC History because of a stacked card. We here at NEO Sports thought it would be a fun idea to break each match down one blog at a time. Because the card is so loaded we felt each match needed more than a few sentences. So over a 12 day stretch, you will see a breakdown of all 12 GIGANTIC matches. Enjoy!

Today’s matchup is Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar

Jose Aldo is one of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet, and also in the entire history of MMA. Aldo is regarded as having some of best takedown defense in all of MMA, as he has defended 91% of his opponents’ takedown attempts.

Aldo is also renowned for regularly winning his fights using little more than the fundamentals of Muay Thai. He employs an array of damaging knees, kicks and punches, as well as agile footwork and slick head movement.

His leg kicks demonstrated in his fights against Urijah Faber, Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar. Aldo has both the most wins and knockouts in UFC and WEC featherweight history, has landed a total of 691 significant strikes in the UFC and the WEC, and holds the record for the longest winning streak in UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and Pride featherweight history, with fifteen consecutive victories.

It was a dominant run that ended on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194 when he lost the fight against Conor McGregor via knockout in 13 seconds with only one punch into the first round, resulting in his first defeat in over ten years.

If Aldo is going to rebound from that crushing defeat, he will have to do it against one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, Frankie The Answer Edgar. Aldo does hold a victory of the former UFC Lightweight champion Edgar.

However, the answer holds numerous big wins himself. Edgar has beaten former world champions Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn (x3), Urijah Faber and top featherweight contender Chad Mendes. Edgar is currently ranked as the #2 featherweight in official UFC rankings. He is no joke, and won’t be a walk through for the former champ Aldo.

This match will be held at featherweight, just as their first one was. It is also for the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship as current champion Conor McGregor seems to have forgotten about his title, and natural weight class.

Look for Edgar to push the action but Aldo to return to form and reclaim his title with a split decision victory.

You can follow Vince McKee on Twitter at VinceTheAuthor