Aldo beats Edgar via unanimous decision, keeps UFC belt

Las Vegas, NV, United States (4E Sports) – Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight belt, beating former lightweight king Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 156 Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Aldo hit Edgar with quick left jabs early in the round and later used his speed to overcome his biggest challenge yet en route to a 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 scores from the judges.

“It was a difficult fight,” Aldo said through a translator after the fight. “Frankie Edgar is a great fighter. I knew I had to work step-by-step, round-by-round.”

“It was a close fight,” Edgar said. “I keep finding myself in these situations. It is what it is. Congrats to Jose.”

With the victory, Aldo improved to 22-1 while Edgar dropped to 15-4-1.

In the first round, Aldo landed a quick left jab that bloodied Edgar’s nose, bringing the momentum in his favor.

After controlling the second round, Aldo then delivered a front kick straight to Edgar’s face in the third round. By the fourth round, Edgar’s left eye was nearly swelled shut.

Despite his wounds, Edgar showed resiliency, hitting Aldo with uppercuts and combinations and bringing him down with a huge body slam that brought the crowd to its feet.

However, the 26-year-old Aldo summoned all of his strength to overcome Edgar’s challenge and ended the fight with a spectacular Superman punch.

Meanwhile, Antonio Noguiera dashed Rashad Evans’ wish to fight Anderson Silva by scoring a unanimous decision win in their light heavyweight bout.

The Brazilian landed effective combinations, especially in the final round, to carve out a 29-28 triumph over Evans.

Nogueira has now won back-to-back fights after losing two in a row for the first time in his career to improve to 21-5.

In other matches, Antonio Silva defeated Alistair Overeem via third-round knockout in their heavyweight bout, Demian Maia beat Jon Fitch via unanimous decision.

Joseph Benavidez edged Ian McCall via unanimous decision, Evan Dunham outpointed Gleison Tibau via split decision, and Tyron Woodley beat Jay Hieron via first-round knockout.

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