Jose Aldo is not happy with his performance against Mario Bautista. In fact, he spent a long time refusing to talk about fighting after the “sh*tty” 15 minutes of non-action displayed back in October at UFC 307.
Now scheduled to face Aiemann Zahabi on May 10, when the promotion returns to Canada for UFC 315, the former UFC and WEC featherweight champion opened up on what infuriated him about the match and the changes made since.
“I focused on myself, I focused on my skills, on what I have to do best,” Aldo said in Portuguese during the UFC 315 media day on Wednesday. “The sh*t I did on that last fight was so f*cking sh*tty, and I can’t do that anymore. What everybody expects when they see Aldo fight are big fights, to go in there and do my best, and that didn’t happen. It was a shItty fight.”
Instead of studying more his upcoming opponent and maybe expect for certain attacks that may never come, Aldo decided to focus on himself and his skills because “that’s how I became champion, and that’s how I should be.”
“I was pissed at myself,” Aldo said. “I felt really bad. Not only about the fight, but I know I can do more. I’ll let take anything away from an opponent or anything like that, but I know me. I’m stronger, I’m more skilled than Mario, and I can’t be like a r*tarded on the cage accepting him do all that. I felt bad, man. I couldn’t even look at myself and talk about fights after what I did in that fight.
“I know fans were pissed, the UFC, everybody. I’m really well-paid to do my job. Regardless of wins or losses, you have to do your job well done. I realized what I had to do in order to get better for this fight. I have to focus on myself like I’ve always done. There was no study back then, no f*cking internet like nowadays, ‘[your opponent] does this and does that.’ I expected him to do something and nothing f*cking happened, and the referee wouldn’t separate that sh*t either, and it was a f*cking ugly fight and I was so pissed. Get in there and fight! Win or lose, it doesn’t matter, but go there and do your job you’re paid to do.”
Aldo returned from retirement to face Jonathan Martinez and Bautista before getting matched-up against Zahabi, a booking that surprised fans more than the previous ones. Aldo said he wasn’t surprised with the call, and criticized top-ranked athletes who refuse to face names ranked five spots below them.
“For me to become champion, if it’s a big name or not, I have to go there with my skills and walk through them,” Aldo said. “Martinez was a great fight. Some expected him to walk through me because of my layoff, and I did a great fight. Other things happened in the Mario fight and it was that sh*t. For everything I am, I have to do a lot better. I have to go there and knock him out. He had no skills, no heavy hands, nothing. F*ck, I saw the strikes coming and was playing around and didn’t fight. F*ck, I can’t accept that.”
“I don’t blame the UFC either,” he continued. “I’m like wine, the older I am, the better I get. I’m more explosive, more experienced, faster, and that’s why I have to go in there and not choose opponents, [say] ’I want a big name]’ or fight an ugly fight like two fat retired fighters that get punched once and go down. Not with me.”
Aldo vows to be aggressive against Zahabi, and even threw a subtle shot at UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, who defeated him via decision in August 2022 with a similar wrestling-heavy strategy but no successful takedown attempts.
“If I’m at the highest level, and I have what it takes to become champion, where even the champion is afraid to fight because he knows it was a tough fight and was helped by the judges,” Aldo said. “Everybody knows what I’m capable of. And I know because I see that in training, beating the crap out of younger fighters. I have to go there and not fight like a r*tard.”
MMA Fighting – All Posts
