An undisclosed injury to Erik Koch is former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar’s gain as he will fill in against featherweight champion José Aldo at UFC 153 in Rio. MMAJunkie/USA Today first reported the change up.
Edgar will now look to get back in the win column after a pair of close decision losses at the hands of lightweight champion Ben Henderson. The New Jersey-native announced his intent to join the division a week ago on “UFC Tonight.”
While “The Answer” was originally told he would not be guaranteed a shot at the title, the injury to Koch changed that.
UFC 153: Aldo vs Edgar will take place October 13 at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The card will be co-headlined by a light heavyweight class between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Glover Teixeira. The card will air on PPV.




I wanted to see him fight at least once at featherweight before getting the shot at Aldo, just to see how he adjusts and performs at the weight.
What a bout chan sung jung
out for the rest of the year after shoulder surgery
hahaha..i love it! at first there was no way he gets an instant title shot…now he steps in for an injured fighter who just so happens to be fighting for the strap…ya, thats some awesome sh*t. I think he deserves it, after all he did beat Bendo twice :)
TOALLY AGREE WITH U BRO, CANT WAIT TO SEE FRANKIE GET REDEMPTION, ALDO IS NO EASY TASK, BUT EDGARS GOT THIS. SUPER STOKED FOR THIS FITE NOW !!!!!!
Edgar is a true champ. Jon Jones should follow his example and fight anybody, anytime, anywhere.
These are two completely different situations.
Jones has a belt, coming off decisive wins and is totally dominant in his division.
Edgar has lost two controversial decisions, has moved division and with no belt accepts a title shot at late notice.
I can see why you compared the two.
He also won a controversial decision and a controversial draw. Then lost decisively to Bendo…twice. But yes, bad comparison.
AMEN BROTHA, FRANKIE IS A TRUE CHAMP, AND THE DEFINITION OF A REAL FIGHTER !
kind of a ridiculous comparison Jones is the champion with everything to lose. Frankie is being given a chance to fight for a belt that he normally would not have so he has nothing to lose. But a fight I think he deserves after being screwed twice.
frankie edgar …… the new randy couture of title shots .
See how someone with testicles handles the situation.
Because you would be quick to step into the cage with any of these guys, right?
+1
Yeah cuz you have no testicles when your job its being a pro fighter and when you not only step in the octagon continuously with the best in the world, but you also destroy them.
Your right. Aldo should have told DW that he has been training for Koch and not Edgar so the card should be cancelled and that he would need more time to train. Lol how convenient for you to change the topic to regular people stepping into the cage. If any of mma fighters were given the chance to fight for a title in the ufc they would take it. Maybe you should take a break from writing on the forum and watch movies like Warrior. Haha :)
Wow that made do much sense. Especially s since bones did end up taking a fight on less than a month notice against Belfort, and Aldo is taking this fight on a month and a half notice.
PIG do you even have any concept of what is going on, it dose not appear so by any of your comments. Perhaps you should take your own advice and stick to movies.
So, since Frankie involved, does that mean we’ll get get an immediate rematch in three months? Seems how it works with Edgar. I mean, 6 title fights in three years, but only 3 opponents? I don’t get the love affair with the guy. Still, should be a good fight, hopefully whoever wins wins decisively so that way a log jam doesn’t stack up in the featherweight division like it had in the lightweight.
Before you start the frankie hate bs keep in mind that Frankie himself only asked for 1 rematch(Henderson). After the first win over Penn, Frankie said in an interview that he thought Maynard should get the title shot. Maynard fight was a draw so naturally immediate rematch. And I assume you were being sarcastic about the immediate rematch but Aldo has been considered one of the best for a while, so of if he does lose to Edgar he would be justified in asking for a rematch, just as GSP or Anderson would. If Edgar loses he only has to beat a couple of guys before he gets another shot.
Well said Mike, some people just do not grasp what is really happening.
I agree that it would have been nice to see Edgar at 145lbs befire going straight into a title fight.
Personaly, I would have like to see him fight Chad Mendes in his first match.
But, I’m not crying about this situation either. I have wanted to see this fight for a long time.
I just hope Frankie can adjust to not having a speed advantage. A
Ah man, this is so awesome. I’ve imagined this fight 1,000 times – now it’s actually gonna happen.
This will be the biggest test of Aldo’s takedown defense. I know we all said that about Mendes, but he doesn’t combine his striking and wrestling with the efficiency Edgar does. If Frankie cannot out-box Jose, then it’ll hit the mat… I mean, Edgar was the first to take down B.J Penn At LW in…how long? A couple years? My money says he can put Jose on his back, too.
Phew! That was close! Almost had to cancel the whole PPV…
This is awesome. One of my dream matches I have been waiting for to happen and now that it’s announced I can’t wait. I’m a huge fan of both fighters.
Yes I would take a beating for 10 grand even on short notice.
8 weeks notice vs 8 days notice kinda makes a difference. A minor point for potential Jones haters.
Edgar needs to skip 145 and just go down to 135 he doesn’t have a chance against Aldo
Aldo will kick kick kick his legs.slowing Edgar dramatically..ground game needs to be Edgars game plan & work on finishing power instead of getting rapped by judges
Yeah baby, one undeserved fight out, and one sick fight in. Lets hope the Ufc had other ideas got a back up plan come fight week.
@Chrisl
One other thing i just realized is by the Ufc just crushing bones for absolutely no good reason the way they did, they were also actually sending a message to all other champs that you have to take any fight they offer you if that situation happens again. Its pretty embarrassing behavior IMO.
I’m sorry was Chael not available?
Statistics never lie fight matrix had Edgar winning Rematch & believe Henderson barely won- 1st meeting but I thought Edgar won them, Both but Edgar was busting up 1st x + seems they didn’t credit his takedowns..judges suck
As Dana always says “Dont leave it to the judges”
So then why dont we just have fight matrix judging all the fights?
C’mon frankie! i think aldo is slightly overrated tbh
I would step in on 1 days notice when I could make a few hundred thousand bucks (Jones). Dont get me wrong, Dana screwed that whole thing up too. But not one of you can tell me that stepping up to fight a guy like Jones in another weight class on short notice like Sonnen tried, even in a loss would end up hurting said fighter. Frankie is a real man and will step up no prob. Bringing a fighter like Edgar to a weight class that needs some recognition is a good thing. Especially since anyone who watched his last fight knows he won. All I know is that I want to see fights. So if that what you get paid to do then FIGHT! Frankie does that, and to step in against a fighter like Aldo, much MORE respect to him.