Whenever a fan gets to see two exceptional fighters paired against each other, such as Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo, the mind races.
Such standoffs bring many questions to light, mainly because the margin of error for both fighters is razor thin. Advantages that were normally a given are now uncertain, and areas of weakness—no matter how small—can be the undoing of so much greatness.
When fighters that good meet, nothing but their very best will suffice.
As fans, to ponder the uncertain with a critical eye is a natural thing. It is in our nature to try and quantify everything—to predict the future based on the history of the fighters involved. If faith is a belief in the unseen, then prognostication is a prediction based on a faith that comes from history seen, time and again.
And in the case of Pettis and Aldo, the history shows them to be a monsters when they are in top form.
This fight looks to be the most rigorous test each man has had to date. For every person that declares Aldo will win, you can find another who advocates for Pettis.
And so, as is our custom as fans, we ponder and theorize to the best of our ability toward the end of predicting who has the advantage—and more importantly, where.
Of course, the result of this fight will probably not be decided by numerical superiority granted from some list. Fighters are not the sum total of their greater or lesser parts because no two fights are the same.
And this fight promises to be quite unlike any other.
Here’s a head-to-toe breakdown of Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo.