Can Aldo live up to his favourite tag?

Can Aldo Live up to his Favourite Tag?

By Michael Gales Jan 21, 2013

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UFC 156 betting sees Jose Aldo defend his UFC featherweight title against Frank Edgar at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on February 2nd. To see how these two fighters shape up, read on for key fight statistics for Aldo vs. Edgar betting.

Champion Favourite to Retain Title

Defending UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is the 1.426* favourite to retain his title and inflict a third successive defeat for Frank Edgar.

The Brazilian has an exceptional MMA record of 21-1-0 with his only defeat coming against Luciano Azevedo in 2005. Since that defeat Aldo has won 14 fights in succession.

The 26-year-old is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has mastered Muay Thai. He’s renowned for his strong ground-and-pound, and will hope to utilise these skills against Edgar.

Aldo will enter the UFC 156 cage at 5’7”, 145lb and despite having a two-inch reach deficit against his opponent, will look to throw strikes.

Edgar Takes the Step Down in Weight

Former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar 3.100* drops down to featherweight for the first time and gets an immediate title shot – despite losing his last two fights.

Edgar’s record reads 14-3-1 and even though he has faltered on both of his last outtings (both against Benson Henderson), he is expected to be a threat for Aldo.

Edgar will fight for the first time at featherweight, bringing an interesting x-factor to the occasion. Many experts believe this is his natural weight, however, so it will be interesting to see how it affects his performance fighting at a lower weight.

The 31-year-old is an American mixed martial artist who employs an orthodox stance and is renowned for his excellent wrestling skills and sublime stamina.

Edgar will enter the UFC 156 cage at 5’6” (one inch shorter than Aldo) at 145lb, with a two-inch reach advantage over the champion.

Striking – Aldo Kicks His Way Ahead

Champion Aldo is one of the best strikers in the business and with 13 knockout wins in 22 fights, his striking record speaks for itself.

Aldo lands an average of 3.55 strikes per minute compared to his opponents 3.32, and hits with a more efficient 49% accuracy, while Edgar lands just 40%.

Aldo’s precision for striking is fearful, with every punch, elbow, kick and knee seemingly thoughtful and calculated.

After struggling recently with the unorthodox striking of Benson Henderson, Edgar will be relying on his defence to keep him out of trouble. Edgar’s stats show on average he gets tagged 2.13 times every minute, while his defence success rate is an impressive 72%.

With just three KO career wins for Edgar, he is not renowned as a big hitter – although it should be noted that this was against bigger, heavier competition. Aldo has a solid defence, however, which sees him absorb 1.81 strikes per minute and rebuff 71% of his opponents strikes.

Grappling & Wrestling

Edgar may use his striking ability to set up takedowns where he can affect some ground-and-pound.

Edgar averages 2.73 takedowns per 15 minutes with 37% accuracy, while Aldo averages less than one takedown every 15 minutes (0.76), but has an impressive 60% accuracy.

Against Aldo, Edgar may look to avoid going toe-to-toe and use his wrestling to slow down the speedy featherweight champion. However, this maybe easier said than done as Aldo has a 95% defence against his opponents takedown attempts, compared to 61% for Edgar.

Neither fighter is renowned for their submission game, with Edgar last winning by submission in 2009 and Aldo’s coming even further back in 2005.

Edgar has won three fights by submission and averages just 0.39 submission attempts every 15 minutes, while Aldo has won two and lost one by way of submission and averages a paltry 0.13 submission attempts every 15 minutes.

Stamina and Conditioning

Both men will step into the UFC 156 Cage in fantastic shape; again, however, the issue of how the weight drop will affect Edgar is key.

Whatever happens, Edgar is renowned for having exceptional stamina and endurance and has won eight fights by decision. Nevertheless, all of his career defeats have come via decision.

The champion’s endurance has been questioned before, most notably against Mark Hominick and he will be more prepared against a fighter renowned for forcing the fighting pace.

Despite struggling against Hominick, he won the fight by decision, making it six out of six for fights that have reached the final bell.

Interestingly, Aldo’s average fight time is 10.44 minutes, compared to Edgar’s 17.47 minutes, which showcases Aldo’s striking dominance is a different tactic to Edgar’s ability to grind his opponents down over time.

This fight will likely be determined by how well Edgar can adjust to fighting at a lighter weigh. Will the challenger be made to pay for jumping straight into a title fight, or can he upset the odds and end Aldo’s 14 fight winning streak?

Click here to see the best UFC 156 odds.

*Odds subject to change

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