4. José Aldo Vs. Anthony Pettis UFC 163
UFC 163, set to take place August 2013 in the HSBC Arena, Rio De Janeiro, was originally scheduled to feature the main event of featherweight champion José Aldo against now-lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Though Pettis was yet to win his lightweight belt, the fight was still incredibly intriguing. José Aldo had battered his way past practically every 145-lb contender using his incredible striking combinations and heavy leg-kicks. Pettis was no slouch in the striking department himself the 27-year-old is best known for his showtime kick against Benson Henderson but he was coming off a more recent TKO win over another world class kickboxer in Donald Cerrone. The fight was unceremoniously cancelled when Pettis suffered a torn meniscus. The striking whizz-kid took to twitter to inform his fans:
Injuries are part of the sport, Small tear in my meniscus. I was so ready for this fight, this won't stop me! Be back soon.
Korean Zombie (Chan Sung Jung) stepped up on relatively short notice to fight the pound-for-pound topping featherweight champion. Many had believed the divisions #2 ranked fighter, Ricardo Lamas, would get the nod but it was revealed that some minor injuries meant that the only viable candidate was #4 incumbent Korean Zombie. Though unbelievably tough, Korean Zombie didnt pose the same threat as Anthony Pettis this was evident in the eventual UFC 163 main event as Aldo dominated him from the opening bell. After Pettis beat Benson Henderson for the second time to win the lightweight belt, it was widely speculated that Aldo would make his 155-lbs debut in the UFC to challenge champion Pettis and have the fight that never happened at UFC 163. However, several complications meant the fight was leap-frogged by a clash between Pettis and perennial contender Gilbert Melendez, the main one being that Aldo wasnt willing to relinquish his featherweight belt. Will we ever see the clash of the two best strikers in the UFC? Who can say?