Jose Aldo is the only featherweight champion the UFC has ever had.
It has been nearly nine years since he gave up the only loss of his career, and truth be told, he has rarely been challenged since that night. He stormed into the WEC in 2008 and finished his first five opponents, then finished champion Mike Brown to capture the featherweight title. That championship eventually became the UFC featherweight title, and Aldo’s held it ever since.
But those six finishes to begin his Zuffa career? Those became increasingly rare after Aldo captured the belt. In the four years he’s been WEC/UFC champion, Aldo has finished three opponents. He’s gone to decision five times. Granted, his pace has slowed greatly; eight fights in four years is not a very dense schedule.
Still, it’s as though Aldo’s style has undergone a shift in tone. He’s no longer the terrifying finisher he once was. Instead, he’s content to sit back and wait for his opponents to make a mistake. If they don’t make a mistake, he’s perfectly fine scoring enough points to win a decision.
But Aldo is still mostly viewed as an offensive machine and devastating finisher. When his name is mentioned, the first thing that pops in my brain is usually his eight-second finish of Cub Swanson back in 2009. That’s the moment that has been drilled into our collective memories: a lethal striker running through his opponents with ease.
But the facts don’t back that up. Luke Thomas over at MMAFighting.com brings you statistics:
In terms of knockdowns, Aldo has only two. He does rank fifth among featherweights for significant strikes landed, but that figure is aided by the long duration of his bouts (Aldo is number one among featherweights for longest total fight time and longest average fight time). Moreover, Aldo doesn’t even rank in the top ten among his 145-pound peers when it comes to strikes landed per minute or significant strike accuracy. He is also not in the top 10 in terms of overall strikes landed.
So Aldo has the longest average fight time of all UFC featherweights, and he doesn’t rank near the top in striking categories. Those numbers indicate Aldo has become something entirely different than what he was when he entered the UFC: He has become a safe fighter.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Too many fighters don’t understand that not getting hit is nearly as important as hitting your opponent. Not getting hit helps you win fights, and it extends your career.
But it also serves as a perfect explanation for why Aldo has such a difficult time connecting with fans.
Aldo’s long championship reign and position in the pound-for-pound rankings—he’s currently No. 2 in the UFC’s official rankings—should translate into genuine stardom. He doesn’t speak very much English, but as we discussed earlier in the week, that isn’t a deal breaker. Anderson Silva did not publicly start speaking English until later in his career, and he still achieved superstar status.
Aldo’s problem, and the reason he hasn’t reached the same heights as Silva and others, is his style. It is his willingness to sit back and wait, to do just enough to hold onto his championship. And it has become increasingly noticeable as the UFC becomes more desperate for stars who can carry pay-per-view events.
For an example of a champion who goes for the finish whenever possible, look at new bantamweight titlist T.J. Dillashaw. In May, the Team Alpha Male product dominated Renan Barao so thoroughly that he could’ve put things in cruise control during the fourth and fifth rounds and still secured an easy decision.
But Dillashaw believes the best way to sell himself is by being exciting, and so he continually pressed for the finish. He got it in the fifth round. And in Aldo, Dillashaw sees a fighter who would rather hold onto his belt than make a statement with the fans. Here’s what he told Ben Fowlkes from MMAjunkie.com:
That’s smart for your career, but for me, that’s not my fighting style. I’m too aggressive and I like to make it action-packed. The way I try to sell my fights is with my performances, making them better and better and knocking off good guys. I’ve got some tough guys in my weight class who I can prove a point with, and I think that’s the best way to sell a fight. …
I think ultimately it comes down to how you perform as a champion. Instead of just trying to hold onto your title like you’re afraid to lose it, go out there and give it hell and be entertaining.
I think Dillashaw is correct. Aldo is a superb fighter. I remember sitting by the Octagon when he faced Frankie Edgar last February. I was absolutely floored by Aldo’s use of space and distance. He is among the best I’ve ever seen at reacting to moments in the cage, and he made the lightning-fast Edgar look moderately slow on that night. It is an absolute joy to watch Aldo do his thing in the Octagon.
But we expect more from our champions. We don’t want to see them go to a decision. We want to see them go in the Octagon or ring and prove they are the best in the world at what they do. We don’t mind seeing them mentally and physically tested, because that’s when they prove their mettle.
What we don’t want, however, is to see them go in the cage and settle. Not when they can do so much more.
Aldo is capable of great and violent things, but he must be willing to risk his championship and his winning streak in order to attain them.
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