Edgar takes on Faber in UFC Manila
FORMER Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and ex-World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) featherweight champion Urijah Faber headlines the first ever UFC event here in the Philippines.
The UFC announced in its website that Edgar and Faber face off inside the Octagon in a five-round featherweight bout in UFC Fight Night on May 16 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
Following a string of losses to Benson Henderson twice and to current UFC featherweight king Jose Aldo, the 33-year-old Edgar hopes to show that he deserves another shot at UFC gold.
Edgar won his last three fights, all at featherweight, against Charles Oliviera, UFC legend BJ Penn and Cub Swanson. He is rated No. 1 at feath- erweight and a win over Faber should earn him another shot at Aldo, who beat him by unanimous decision in 2013.
Edgar won the UFC lightweight belt 2010 over Penn and lost the crown to Henderson in 2012.
Faber, rated No. 3 in the bantamweight division, fought as a featherweight in his days in the WEC and moved down to bantamweight in his move to the UFC.
The 35-year-old Isla Vista, California native fought for a title thrice in the UFC and lost to Dominick Cruz once and Renan Barao twice. Faber, who visited the Philippines last year, has won back-to-back fights against Alex Caceres and Francisco Rivera. He will be moving up in weight for this fight.
Edgar is 17-4-1, while Faber is 32-7.
In the undercard, local talent Roldan Sangcha-an (4-1) makes his second UFC fight against Jon Delos Reyes (7-4) and South Korean Tae Hyun Bang (17-8) faces Jon Tuck (8-2).