Frankie Edgar Could Make UFC History and No One is Talking About It

By Adam Martin

Trivia question: Randy Couture and BJ Penn share a UFC record.

What is it?

Answer: They are the only two men in UFC history to hold titles
in two different weight classes — Couture the former heavyweight and light
heavyweight champ, and Penn the former welterweight and lightweight champ.

This weekend, though, one more man may be added to this elite
list: Frankie Edgar.

The former UFC lightweight champion – and the man many feel is
the uncrowned champ of the 155-pound division – fights UFC featherweight
champion Jose Aldo in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 156. If he wins
the belt, he will officially enter legend territory.

And sadly, absolutely no one is talking about it.

I don’t know exactly why that is, but perhaps it’s the fact
that the UFC, or Zuffa to be more accurate, has put on shows for three straight
weeks — the Strikeforce Finale, UFC on FX 7, UFC on FOX 6 – and this weekend’s
UFC 156 event has been somewhat lost in the shuffle, even though it’s by far
the best card of the bunch, at least on paper. It’s hard to tell the story of
one event, but when you have four in a row, it becomes even harder, especially
for that poor event that’s coming up last, in this case UFC 156.

(It’s the same problem that’s plaguing the upcoming UFC London card, which features a title fight no one is talking about, but that’s for another
day.)

I believe the cramming of events in such a short amount of time
is why Aldo vs. Edgar, and in particular the historic importance of an Edgar
win, has been flying under the radar. I mean, think about all the huge fights
we’ve had in the last few weeks – Michael Bisping vs. Vitor Belfort, Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson, Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis, Quinton “Rampage”Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira, Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring, Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine – and it’s not hard to see why a fight between two little
sparkplugs like Edgar and Aldo has been forgotten about, even though it’s by
far, and I mean by far, the best fight of the bunch. It’s actually one of the
best fights the UFC has put together in a very long time, and it has the
potential to be one of the best fights in the sport’s history, no hyperbole.

If Edgar wins, he’ll have proven that skill, not size, is what
separates the truly elite from the rest of the pack. Along with Clay Guida,
Edgar was always the smallest lightweight in the division, and now that he’s at
featherweight he’ll finally be fighting someone his own size, so I expect him
to be even more competitive in fights than he was before. Actually, Aldo is
still probably going to be bigger, which would make an Edgar win all the more
impressive, without even considering the fact Aldo is on a fourteen fight win
streak, and has defended his belt five times.

I really hope that Edgar gets the recognition that he deserves
if he joins Couture and Penn in that legendary group this weekend, as well as
consideration for the top of the pound-for-pound food chain. And if it’s Aldo
that wins, he too needs to start being considered for that No. 1
pound-for-pound spot, because he’s been flying under the radar for a while,
too, despite the fact that he’s held the 145-pound belt seemingly forever.

Regardless, the point is this fight isn’t getting nearly as
much hype as it deserves, and the historic context is being diluted. I really
hope that picks up in the next few days, but it’s super weird that the UFC’s
Super Bowl event – and this one is even more stacked than usual – isn’t really
getting that much buzz.

Again, maybe it’s just that there’s been too many events
lately, but I really hope this doesn’t become a trend in the future as the MMA
schedule expands, because milestones like the one Edgar could reach this
weekend are things we need to cherish, as they just don’t come around that
often, and that’s because fighters aren’t supposed to win high-level fights in
two different weight classes, never mind titles.

If Edgar wins this weekend, he’ll not only win the UFC
featherweight title but he’ll punch his ticket to the UFC Hall of Fame at the
same time, and it will be more than well deserved.