3 Reasons to Root for Frankie Edgar at UFC 156

Frankie Edgar is a fighter who is hard to root against. He has that warrior spirit and can never be counted out of a fight. People thought he couldn't beat BJ Penn. Edgar did it two times. People thought Edgar wouldn't beat Gray Maynard in the trilogy fight. Edgar stopped Maynard in the fourth round at UFC 136.

After two close defeats to lightweight champion Benson Henderson, in fights people thought Edgar won, the former champion returns to action tomorrow night.

This time, Edgar is returning in a different weight class.

Edgar is moving down to featherweight and will face off against UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 156. Can Edgar become the champion tomorrow night or will Aldo be too much?

Let's take a look and see why you should be rooting for the former lightweight champion.

Win Titles in Two Different Weight Classes

It is hard to win a title in one weight class—when you switch weight classes, the odds of winning another title are very slim. Only two fighters have won titles in two different weight classes. Those two fighters are Randy Couture and BJ Penn. Frankie Edgar has a chance to join that group tomorrow night.

Edgar won the lightweight title when he defeated BJ Penn at UFC 112 in April 2010. "The Answer" made three title defenses before losing the title to Benson Henderson last February at UFC 144. Edgar lost the rematch to Henderson in a close decision at UFC 150 last August.

Even when Edgar was still the champion, Dana White insisted that he move down to featherweight. After Edgar lost the title, many agreed that he should make the drop down to 145. Edgar has now made the move and his first fight is for the title.

Who doesn't like seeing history? Tomorrow night, Edgar can make history and join two legends in the sport.

Stop the Run of Aldo

The UFC has a couple of champions who are on dominant runs right now. You have middleweight champion Anderson Silva, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Aldo in the featherweight division.

Aldo won the featherweight title from Mike Brown at WEC 44 in November 2009. "Scarface" has made five straight title defenses going into tomorrow night.

Aldo is a well-known name to the hardcore fans, but not to the casual fan. Edgar has that rapport with the casual fan due to his fights with Penn. It is fun seeing fighters go on dominant runs as the champion, but people like to see change. Edgar can provide that change tomorrow night. 

Legitimize the Featherweight Division

When you look at the featherweight division, there isn't one name that stands out. The division was implemented when the WEC merged with the UFC at the beginning of 2011.

The featherweight division was thin when the merger happened, but now the division is becoming one of the deepest in the UFC. Including Aldo, you now have Ricardo Lamas, Erik Koch, Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier, The Korean Zombie, Dennis Siver, Hatsu Hioki and Clay Guida.

The division doesn't have that one breakout star, though. Aldo is the champion, but Aldo has been injury prone since he has been in the UFC and we haven't seen enough cage time from him. An Edgar victory tomorrow night helps put this division on the map.

Having Edgar as the champion gives the division the star power it needs. When people ask who the champion is, everyone will know.