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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"This is a great opportunity I'm handed here. It's something that I didn't think would happen this quick. It was an easy call on my part. I had fought less than three weeks ago when I got the call. I had an injury-free fight. I felt really good. I was already back in the gym a little bit. It's an opportunity you can't let slip... I've always been a fan of Jose Aldo. He's an exciting fighter to watch. He brings it every fight. One of the best strikers we've got in the UFC. I'm pumped for this fight. He's such a dynamic striker. He can get you with his hands, his feet. He can kind of do it all as far as his stand-up goes. He's got a really good ground game that no one has really seen before. He's gonna be a tough opponent, no doubt... Like I said before, once you taste it, you want it back badly. I'm just happy that come five, six weeks from now, I'm gonna have the opportunity to make that happen."
-Former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar discusses his surprise opportunity at the UFC Featherweight Championship against Jose Aldo next month in an interview with MMAWeekly.com.
Penick's Analysis: Edgar's move to featherweight was his best chance at getting a title shot after consecutive losses to Ben Henderson. Even though the second loss to Henderson was very controversial, he would have had a much longer climb up the ladder to get another shot at 155 lbs. The move to featherweight at worst put him a fight or two away, and the injury to Erik Koch expedited that process. This is the type of opportunity that doesn't necessarily come around often, so he was right to jump at the chance, and we'll see if he can take advantage of that when he steps into the cage on Oct. 13.
[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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