Anthony Pettis drops to featherweight, will challenge Jose Aldo on August 3

Jose Aldo just beat one of the top lightweights on the planet this past weekend when Frankie Edgar dropped down to challenge him for the UFC featherweight championship. After a solid win over Edgar, Aldo is now set to take on another top 155'er as Anthony Pettis drops down to 145 pounds.

MMA Junkie broke the news this morning:

Two of the most dynamic strikers in all of mixed martial arts will meet Aug. 3 as Anthony Pettis (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is dropping from lightweight to 145 pounds to challenge current champion Jose Aldo (22-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) for the UFC featherweight title.

USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday learned of the booking from UFC President Dana White.

"Two of the baddest dudes in the fight business are going to fight at 145 pounds," White said. "These guys are two of the most amazing, gravity-defying athletes in the sport. I am so pumped for this fight."

With Ricardo Lamas' domination of Eric Koch at UFC 156, I assumed that would be the next fight for Aldo.

Instead they're going with Pettis in what is a fantastic fight on paper. Pettis has explosive striking and an often overlooked wrestling/grappling game.

But there are those -- such as myself -- that think a fighter should have to prove himself at a weight before getting a title shot unless situations make an immediate shot necessary. That's the kind of thing needed to establish an entire weight class and not just the champion.

But that didn't happen, and the fight is so good that it might be worth overlooking that this time.