The Karate Blitz

1.  WILL FRANKIE'S NORMAL SPEED ADVANTAGE BE NULLIFIED BY DROPPING DOWN IN THE FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION? Yes.  Normally, Frankie jumps in and out, lands some punches and takes very little damage.  Aldo's job stopped him repeatedly, as did his signature leg kicks that reduced his mobility. 2.  WILL ALDO GET TAKEN DOWN? No.  Well, once.  But wrestling played a very small role in this fight, outside of the single take down in the later rounds.  The bigger factor was Edgar's cardio which started turning the fight around in the later rounds, but not soon enough. 3.  CAN NOGUEIRA NEUTRALIZE RASHAD EVANS'S TAKEDOWNS? Yes.  Nogueira fought off one take down attempt and for the rest of the fight Evans tried to out-quick Nogueira in the striking department.  The last two opponents to beat Nogueira relied on their wrestling to neutralize his high-level boxing skills.  Evans fight tactics puzzled most observers and cost him only hi...

1.  WILL FRANKIE'S NORMAL SPEED ADVANTAGE BE NULLIFIED BY DROPPING DOWN IN THE FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION? In the lightweight division, former champion Edgar had the speed advantage in every single fight.  Striking, footwork, kicks, takedowns- Edgar got their first.  Against Aldo and the other featherweights, will this reduce his efficiency?  Will he take more punishment? 2.  WILL ALDO GET TAKEN DOWN? Edgar's wrestling often takes a backseat to the technical proficiency of his boxing, but it should not be overlooked in this fight.  Having taken down far larger and stronger men who possessed great take down defense, how will Aldo adjust Edgar repeatedly gets past his knees for takedowns? 3.  CAN NOGUEIRA NEUTRALIZE RASHAD EVANS'S TAKEDOWNS? Nogueira's recent two-loss streak came at the hands of two accomplished wrestlers- Ryan Bader and Phil Davis.  What happens when he takes on a wrestler who is even better than both of those fighters? ...