UFC 211 One to Watch: Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez

After a mini break of three weeks, the UFC is back and with a proverbial bang.

The promotion's fourth event in Dallas, Texas—UFC 211—has two title fights serving as its main course. Those in attendance at the American Airlines Center will get to see heavyweight and strawweight title fights, pitting Stipe Miocic against Junior dos Santos and Joanna Jedrzejczyk versus Jessica Andrade respectively.

In addition, you have a welterweight title eliminator fight between Demian Maia and Jorge Masvidal, a top-tier flyweight tilt featuring Henry Cejudo and Sergio Pettis, while a high-level lightweight contest between recently-dethroned 155lbs king Eddie Alvarez and the rising Dustin Poirier headlines the preliminary card.

But it's the fight between Frankie Edgar and Yair Rodriguez, a bout which could easily headline a UFC Fight Night show yet finds itself fourth from top of the bill on Saturday night, which arguably—and there are plenty of arguments to be made—produces the most intrigue in a bumper card of 14 fights.

If it wasn't for two title fight losses to Jose Aldo at UFC 156 and UFC 200, New Jersey native Frankie Edgar looked near-unstoppable in his featherweight run which has now spanned close to five years—dominating everyone else in his way. Since his reign as UFC lightweight champion, Edgar has beat top featherweight talent such as Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes, Charles Oliveira and Jeremy Stephens, as well as MMA figureheads in B.J. Penn and Urijah Faber.

At 35, Edgar is still the quick-footed wrestler with good athleticism, snappy takedowns, clean boxing and an underrated ground game. Now, with over 10 years under his belt in the UFC, Edgar has a sense of veteran wiliness which doesn't see him dragged into slugfests which had previously seen him left in trouble like in his two title fights against Gray Maynard. With an upcoming opponent such as Rodriguez, who likes nothing more than striking with his wide array of kicking techniques, Edgar would be wise to use his in-cage experience against his Mexican foe.

Rodriguez has been a revelation since being introduced to the MMA world upon winning The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America. "Pantera" defeated Leonardo Morales at UFC 180 to be crowned winner of the show in Mexico City and he hasn't looked back since—stringing together a number of spectacular wins which has seen him knock Andre Fili out with a flying head kick and score a front kick KO over Penn. Just 24 years old, 11 years Edgar's junior, Rodriguez has been tabbed as one of the sport's most exciting prospects.

Given Rodriquez's relative inexperience to that of Edgar's, you would be forgiven for thinking he was nervous ahead of what is undoubtedly the biggest test of his career. Pantera hasn't shown a shred of worry—in fact, he asked for this fight against Edgar according to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby. "I got a fair amount of hate for making this fight," said Shelby. "The funny thing is I'm not the guy who actually made this fight. Yair Rodriguez made this fight. He thought he was ready and requested Frankie Edgar specifically."

Fans might fear that Edgar will "kill off" a valuable prospect, but that's another interesting wrinkle to this fight—we have never seen Edgar act as the gatekeeper or elder statesman of either UFC lightweight or featherweight divisions. Edgar has long assumed the role as the plucky underdog thanks to his stint as an undersized fighter at 155lbs. Now, Edgar is the big, bad end boss for Rodriguez as a Pantera victory would open up multiple avenues for a title shot in the very near future.

Edgar respects Rodriguez, but he is certainly embracing the role as the featherweight custodian in the way of this rising talent. "This is going to be a big jump, not a little jump but a big jump from what he's [Rodriguez] used to," Edgar told the Fight Society podcast [H/T Fox Sports]. "He's got this hype around him. People believe in him. The UFC must believe in him to put him in this position and they're hoping big things for this guy. He's a Mexican fighter, I know they really want to get into that market and he brings a flashy style, an exciting style so the fans are into him.

"This is definitely going to be a big jump for him. He's definitely done a great job in his previous fights, but I know he hasn't fought anybody like me or at least my level."

Some may still fear a loss for Rodriguez would stunt his growth within the confines of the Octagon. But, win or lose, a good performance from Rodriguez would send his hype up into hyperspace. Edgar is the perfect man to really test Pantera's potential—he's not called The Answer for nothing.