Later this evening, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will put his title on the line against red hot interim titleholder Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Aldo is considered by many to be the most dominant featherweight in the history of the sport, but he’ll face quite a tough test in the 25-year-old Holloway, as the surging Hawaiian has won an incredible 10 consecutive bouts. While the matchup of styles between the two will certainly be intriguing, Aldo feels as if the fight taking place in his native Brazil will serve as a key advantage for him against Holloway:
“The f–k he will feed off their energy. He’s going to f—king shit himself,” Aldo told Combate. “He never fought with that kind of pressure before, man. You can see in his eyes how nervous he gets when the crowd starts to put the pressure on him. It’s all baloney. He doesn’t want to let it show.
“I’ve fought millions of guys and I never felt the need to respond to the crowd or give them any gestures. When a person wants to show all that, they’re so nervous, you don’t even know how much. He’s afraid. He always fought in the USA, where there’s no booing or anything. It’s an important fight in a new place. He’s nervous, anxious.”
Aldo may have a point here, as the Brazilian crowd tends to rally around their home grown fighters, although “Blessed” has appeared to be nothing short of confident heading into the biggest fight of his career.
The champion last competed at UFC 200 last July in Las Vegas where he scored a one-sided decision victory over Frankie Edgar in their rematch. This win served as a pivotal bounce back for Aldo after he was famously knocked out by Conor McGregor in just 13 second at UFC 194 in Dec. 2015.
Holloway, on the other hand, is coming off of a dominant third round stoppage victory over former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 last December.
Who do you expect to walk away with featherweight gold tonight?
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