Frankie Edgar has a dance partner and it isn’t Ricardo Lamas.
Today (March 9) the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced the addition of a featherweight tilt for the already stacked UFC 211 card. The two 145-pounders sharing the Octagon will be Edgar and Yair Rodriguez.
It’s a surprising announcement for a couple of reasons. First, “The Answer” and Lamas had agreed to compete against each other in May. Granted, it was through social media and not through the UFC. Second, Rodriguez is still young in his career and ranked 9th on the official UFC featherweight rankings. Facing a former UFC champion who is considered to be much closer to his prime than B.J. Penn is a steep challenge for “El Pantera.”
Rodriguez dominated Penn in his last outing. It was “The Prodigy’s” first fight since July 2014. Penn hadn’t won a bout since Nov. 2010 and that fact remains true. Rodriguez earned a second-round TKO victory thanks to a devastating front kick followed by ground strikes.
As for Edgar, he has gone 6-1 in his last seven outings. His only loss was to reigning UFC 145-pound champion Jose Aldo at UFC 200. “The Answer” rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Stephens inside Madison Square Garden in New York City on the UFC 205 prelims.
UFC 211 takes place on May 13 inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
