Maybe Jose Aldo has outgrown the WEC. He's certainly on the verge of outgrowing the featherweight division. Much like boxers routinely graduate from the 147-pound boxing welterweight division to junior middleweight, the 24-year-old Aldo looks to have the size and skill to compete with the 155ers. But it doesn't sound like Aldo and his manager Ed Soares have any interest in calling out WEC champion Ben Henderson. It's time for bigger and better things in the UFC. Maybe that means a trip to the Octagon against UFC 155 champ Frank Edgar.
"To be honest with you, if you were to say, What would be your dream fight for [Aldo]? I think a dream fight for him, which I think would just be a fight that everyone would love to see, would be Frankie Edgar vs. Jose Aldo," Soares said told Versus.com's Ariel Helwani.
That's a nice step up considering Aldo's biggest WEC wins have come against UFC castoff Manny Gamburyan, Mike Brown and Urijah Faber, who is now fighting down at 135 pounds.
"That fight to me is the fight that everybody would want to see simply just because, not to disrespect anybody at the 155-pound division to think that Jose has the right to go up there without fighting in it, I just think that, as their styles, the way they match up, it would be one of the greatest fights of all-time, I think. It has the potential to be, just because of their styles," said Soares.
Thus far Aldo has been the good soldier, not complaining about a lack of pay-per-view dollars and exposure.
"He's a breath of fresh air, man. He's so refreshing. As a client, he's just very great," said Soares.
When he asks Aldo what he wants next, his answer may surprise some people.
"'It's not my job. My job is to go in there and perform inside the ring. That's your guys' job,'" said Soares relaying Aldo's thoughts.
Aldo certainly deserves the attention from casual fight fans that is already given to guys like Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. But Aldo and Soares aren't complaining. They trust the plan put in place by Zuffa.
"I hope soon," Soares said of Aldo's chances of becoming a consistent pay-per-view draw. "We have have faith in Dana (White), the UFC, Zuffa and the WEC, because we're not promoters. My job is to manage a fighter and the fighter's job is to go out there and fight, so I feel like I've done my job good, Jose has done his job good, and so far, the WEC and Zuffa have done their job well."
Before you nix an Edgar-Aldo fight, think about what's on the horizon for Edgar. If he gets by Gray Maynard at UFC 125, who's next?
Check out where the UFC fighter rank in the USA Today/Bloody Elbow lightweight Top 25. Who's the obvious choice?
1. Frank Edgar
2. B.J. Penn
4. Gray Maynard
7. Kenny Florian
9. George Sotiropoulos
10. Sean Sherk
11. Jim Miller
12. Evan Dunham
13. Takanori Gomi
16. Tyson Griffin
17. Joe Stevenson
18. Kurt Pellegrino
20. Diego Sanchez
White talked about "mind blowing" things on the way for WEC. Maybe Aldo versus Edgar is part of that plan. Or should Edgar be required to defend his title in a string of fights against guys like George Sotiropoulus, Sean Sherk, Evan Dunham and Takanori Gomi?
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