| Sign Up | Google+

Rumor: Jose Aldo to face Frankie Edgar in Brazil at UFC 156 on January 19

Stay connected for news and updates

Esther Lin of MMA Fighting

It appears that Jose Aldo might be main-eventing UFC 156 on January 19th in a yet-unnamed city in Brazil. And he'll probably be facing the man he was set to meet at UFC 153 before a motorcycle injury cost him that fight - former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. The confirmation of the fight comes from Caju Freitas at Brazilian site No Mundo Das Lutas.

I'm not Brazilian and I'm not 100% sure that the site or reporter are reputable to be honest, but MMA Junkie provides some backup info that definitely lends credence to the report: They confirm that the UFC is likely going to Brazil on January 19th, and speculate that Aldo is the only Brazilian champion in a position to defend his belt at the event:

Sources close to the promotion on Wednesday told MMA Junkie that the promotion is targeting Jan. 19 for a pay-per-view that would be UFC 156. An exact city, however, is not yet known.

...

The UFC has four Brazilian champions, but only one would seem to be a realistic possibility to defend his title in the main event. Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos puts his belt on the line at UFC 155 in December against Cain Velasquez. Middleweight champ Silva just fought. Interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao is likely to wait for champ Dominick Cruz to be healthy enough to return for a title unification fight.

But featherweight champion Aldo was supposed to defend his title at UFC 153 against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who was a replacement for the injured Erik Koch. But a motorcycle accident wound up sidelining Aldo, postponing the fight with Edgar and forcing the UFC's hand with the Silva-Bonnar fight. Aldo said earlier this month in Rio that he expects to return in January at the latest, and he expects to return against Edgar.

So, everything's pointing to Aldo meeting Edgar at the event, since he's the only logical challenger. Two other possible challengers have been matched up against each other (Ricardo Lamas and. Erik Koch), and Chan Sung Jung likely wouldn't be ready to return from injury by then.

It's nowhere near official at this point, but Junkie stated that the UFC will announce the main event and co-main in the next few days. So we'll find out for sure soon.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Recent Posts

Stay connected for news and updates

The Next Read

There are 48 Comments. Load Now. Loading

Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.

C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read

R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next

Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read

Comment Settings

Live comment alert: Hide it!

Comments for this post are closed.

tracking_pixel_5349_tracker tracking_pixel_5351_tracker