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ROUNDTABLE: Has Frankie Edgar done enough to earn a rematch with Jose Aldo?
Nov 25, 2014 - 8:30:07 PM ROUNDTABLE: Has Frankie Edgar done enough to earn a rematch with Jose Aldo?

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Has Frankie Edgar done enough now to earn a rematch with Jose Aldo, or did that win give the UFC an easy out to give Conor McGregor the shot with a win over Dennis Siver? Why?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The only way it's relevant that Frankie Edgar has or has not "earned" his title shot is if Conor McGregor somehow loses to an overmatched and hand-picked opponent in Dennis Siver. McGregor's going to roll, and his resume of beating Siver and Poirier is going to trump Edgar's defeat of the then-#2 Cub Swanson. And frankly, I don't have a problem with that, despite my opinion that Edgar beats McGregor 7 out of 10 times. McGregor hasn't had a shot at Jose Aldo's title; Edgar has. Edgar has proven to be a spectacular failure as a main-event draw; McGregor has not proven himself to be a failure as a main-event draw. Edgar's last three wins over Cub Swanson, {REDACTED}, and Charles Oliveira aren't necessarily a better collection of wins than McGregor's last three wins over Siver (for the sake of this argument, we assume McGregor beats Siver; if McGregor loses, then Edgar gets the shot and you can just read the next article, #amirite?), Dustin Poirier, and Diego Brandao. So there's a very solid case on multiple fronts to give the next shot to Conor McGregor.

So, with all that said, there are two ways this could play out if I were in charge.

1.) I'm giving Frankie Edgar the next title shot for one reason, and one reason only. Simply put, Dana White (if you think Sean Shelby is making the call on who gets the next title shot, you're insane) will have a major headache on his hands if Frankie Edgar fights Chad Mendes or Ricardo Lamas next and loses. Do you think anyone at UFC Land (HT Karyn Bryant) wants Chad Mendes or Ricardo Lamas to get yet another title fight with Jose Aldo? Well, if Edgar is booked against either of them (and who else could Edgar fight next?), and if either Mendes or Lamas beat Edgar, then the UFC is going to have to continue the tapdance of not giving the most qualified fighter a title shot. Which leads me to my preferred scenario...

2.) I'm giving Conor McGregor the shot against Jose Aldo, and I'm booking Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber as the main event on UFC on Fox 15 in April. And I'm giving the winner of that fight a title shot at the weight of their choosing, 145 lbs or 135 lbs. Think about it. The UFC gets to book McGregor vs. Aldo in an Irish soccer stadium in April or May 2015. They get to run Edgar at home in the middle of April. If he wins a fight that everybody wants to see, he can either fight T.J. Dillashaw or Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo once again, or be the first defense for Conor McGregor. If Faber wins, he can finally decide to fight Dillashaw, have a rubber match with Cruz, a rematch with Aldo, or be McGregor's first opponent. It's perfect.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think he's done enough. He just manhandled the guy who was the presumptive number 1 contender. I think there will be a bigger outcry if Edgar gets passed over than if Cub Swanson had won and gotten passed over. The way that Edgar dominated Swanson is far beyond the way that McGregor has dominated his opponents. Swanson has a decision victory over Dustin Poirier, who is the biggest name that McGregor has beaten. Granted, McGregor knocked Poirier out, but Swanson still beat Poirier, and then got absolutely crushed by Edgar. Even if McGregor knocks out Siver (which is likely), Swanson also knocked out Siver. I don't think there's a way that the UFC could say that McGregor is more deserving of the title shot than Edgar.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Frankie Edgar shouldn't have to be compared to Conor McGregor, he's a former champion who still runs over elite talent like a lifted pickup runs over mud bogs. Frankie should be next in line for Aldo, and if not, let him fight McGregor and expose Conor's possible flaw: elite level wrestlers.


TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Frankie Edgar should be in prime position to fight Aldo for the Featherweight Title next, though I fear it's not going to happen. With Dennis Bermudez losing to Ricardo Lamas last weekend, the only man left with a winning streak, and almost guaranteed a title shot if he was to win, was Cub Swanson. But, Frankie Edgar put a stop to this when he totally dominated Cub on Saturday night with the late fifth round stoppage.

This realistically only leaves Frankie Edgar or Conor McGregor to fight for the title. Aldo already has a win unanimous decision win over Edgar back in February 2013, and though it's a fight the UFC could sell, it wouldn't generate nearly half as much as Jose Also vs. Conor McGregor. It would also be a fresh challenge for the title holder, could be held in Brazil or Ireland, and would sell out within minutes.

So going back to the original question, has Frankie Edgar done enough to get the rematch vs Aldo? Yes, totally. Frankie is the best fighter in the division after Aldo. Still, it'll be the hand picked hype train that gets the call when he destroys Siver in Boston on January 18.


CASH NORMAN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

If we're all going to be honest with ourselves, the UFC intentionally set up Cub Swanson to fail against Frankie Edgar. In a previous roundtable, I also wrote the fight to make was Conor McGregor versus Jose Aldo, but Cub Swanson was standing in the way. Therefore, they brought in Frankie Edgar to remove that obstacle. Frankie Edgar vs Cub Swanson was a number 1 contenders fight in name only. If Swanson had pulled out the victory, McGregor was still going to get the title shot against Aldo. However, now the UFC has an easier pathway for McGregor because I still do not believe Frankie Edgar has done enough. I do not care how close his two fights with Benson Henderson and subsequent fight with Jose Aldo were, he still has three back to back losses in title fights with victories over Charles Oliveira - a good but inconsistent fighter - a should have remained retired B.J. Penn, and now Cub Swanson, who has a susceptibility to submissions.

Although Edgar was easily able to dispatch of Swanson, he was still visibly smaller than Cub. I really believe Frankie should be fighting at bantamweight, but hey, that is none of my business.