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Edgar scoffs at Aldo's history of pulling out of fights

Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Sport / Getty

You can't blame Frankie Edgar if he's become wary of hyping up fights with rival Jose Aldo.

The former UFC featherweight champion has earned a reputation (fair or not) for bowing out of big fights due to injury and Edgar questioned his dedication to a sport where martial artists rarely compete at 100% health.

"We were supposed to fight earlier and he had a little boo-boo on his foot from a motorcycle accident and we had to reschedule. I highly doubt he's ever fought injured," Edgar told Damon Martin of FOX Sports. "If he did, he must fight injured all the time because how much does this guy pull out of fights?"

Aldo recently commented that when he and Edgar fought in February 2013, he allegedly only needed one good arm to take a unanimous decision from him.

The two are set to rematch at UFC 200 on July 9 for an interim featherweight belt. This time around, Aldo appears to be making a concerted effort to ramp up the trash talk with both Edgar and their common enemy Conor McGregor.

Edgar is unconvinced by the jarring personality shift.

"It's definitely out of character. I don't know if it's someone saying it for him or what, but it doesn't even make sense some of the stuff he's saying," Edgar said. "He needs to think maybe about how it's coming out a little bit. He's calling Conor (McGregor) 'soap hands,' you can't say that about someone that knocked you out with one punch. It doesn't make sense to me."

Rumors of another Aldo injury sprang up earlier this week, but he was quick to squash them with an Instagram post where he appeared to be in good health.

Should misfortune befall Aldo with less than a month to go before their fight, Edgar is prepared given his opponent's history.

"I'm just trying to focus on him but I won't be surprised if that happens, obviously," Edgar said. "You're seeing it happen in every weight class, not just us, but especially with Aldo. Anything can happen.

"I'm just going to train hard for Aldo and if we need to make an adjustment, we can do it on the fly."

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