The Brazilian former featherweight king Jose Aldo is getting a second chance at Reigning (UFC) Featherweight champion Max Holloway.
After Frankie Edgar announced that he would be unable to compete due to injury, Jose Aldo stepped for a rematch with Max Holloway at UFC 218 for the UFC featherweight title on December 2nd.
Aldo (26-3) was scheduled to meet Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FOX 26 on December 16th, but now that’s off the table, and UFC officials will have to figure out what’s next for Lamas.
Max Holloway defeated Jose Aldo in a title unification bout at UFC 212 in the third round via TKO. Many people seem shocked what went wrong in with previous champ Aldo, it was thundering leg kicks which are his most dangerous weapons, but he wasn’t able to execute them into the fight with Max Holloway due to a leg injury. Some post-fight comments from June still irking Aldo and break his silence on the matter and vow he’s is in a great condition while speaking to reporters at a media day at Nova Uniao’s gym.
“I don’t think there was any cowardice,” Aldo said. “Every time I’m in there that’s the best Aldo possible. Holloway was a great fighter that night and was able to win. He deserved it. There’s no excuse. ‘Dede’ (Pederneiras) talked about it because it happened in training, but if I’m in there, that’s the best Aldo available. There’s no excuse. He won because he deserved to win.
“I want to make something clear that Aldo didn’t say anything, I was the one who said that,” Pederneiras said. “I was asked why Aldo got tired and mentioned it. I never diminished Holloway’s win. If he had a good leg or not, the punch would’ve landed, and he would’ve gone down the same way. The leg didn’t make him go down. We never diminished Holloway’s win; we praised him for the way be became champion.”
Even Holloway recently told ESPN. Hopefully, he doesn’t have an injury this time- he kicks more.
“His mouth was open. I was able to taunt him. I Stockton-slapped him, and from then on I knew, ‘Wow, this guy is not really moving anymore.’ That was the time to turn up the heat, and that’s what we did.”
Jose Aldo responded to Holloway’s remarks:
“I’m in perfect conditions,” Aldo said. “There are always small injuries, but nothing that takes any weapon away. I’m kicking, punching, I’m doing everything now. There are no serious injuries. You can expect the best kickboxing, the best muay thai. I will walk forward the entire time. I want to kick a lot in this fight. I want to put my hands as well, everything I learned recently, I want to go in there and do it.”
“I’ll smother him from beginning to the end, and he will have to worry about his defense. I always saw the attack as the best defense, so I was holding myself back, thinking ‘he has this strong point,’ and that harmed me. Not anymore. I want to go in there and be myself, be who I always were. That’s what I want.
“If you fight all the time you can lose one day, so (the loss) is not stuck in my throat,” he added. “The belt is no longer with me, so that makes me more motivated to train and get it back. Holloway is just another one that I will win.”
Aldo guarantees he’s very much motivated to hold the UFC crown one more time. Holloway as he held 11-fight win streak and will be defending his title against Aldo.
what do you guys think Jose Aldo will manage to beat Max Holloway at UFC 218?
