The last time Frankie Edgar (20-4-1) squared off with Jose Aldo (25-2), they fought for the featherweight championship more than three years ago at UFC 156 in Las Vegas.
They will meet again on Saturday at UFC 200 with the interim title belt on the line when Edgar attempts to hand the former champion Aldo his second consecutive loss as a slight -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Aldo is a -105 underdog and lost his championship belt to Conor McGregor via a stunning 13-second knockout at UFC 194 last December 12. McGregor then focused on conquering other weight classes, eventually settling on a welterweight matchup with Nate Diaz before losing to him.
That cleared the way for Aldo and Edgar to fight for the interim belt and a chance to hand McGregor another loss in a title unification bout.
Until then, both men have their eyes on the prize and are focused on the task at hand.
Since losing to Aldo by unanimous decision in his featherweight debut, Edgar has won five in a row against some of the top contenders in the division. The former lightweight champ dropped down from 155 to 145 following back-to-back losses to Benson Henderson and has been one of the UFC’s most impressive fighters the last two years in defeating B.J. Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber and Chad Mendes.
Before falling to McGregor, Aldo had not lost in more than a decade, riding an 18-bout winning streak into that championship fight. He earned UD wins over Mendes and Ricardo Lamas following a fourth-round TKO victory against Chan Sung Jung after the first meeting with Edgar.
His previous loss came versus Luciano Azevedo via second-round rear-naked choke submission at Jungle Fight 5 back in November 2005.
The first fight between them was fairly close, with Aldo continuously frustrating Edgar with leg kicks and keeping his opponent from taking him to the ground. One of the judges scored it 48-47, with the other two going with 49-46.
Edgar would love to use his wrestling skills to get Aldo down at UFC 200, because the stand-up game favors the underdog.
