After Jose Aldo lost back-to-back fights against Max Holloway at UFC 212 and UFC 218 (see it), many felt “Junior’s” time in mixed martial arts (MMA) was slowly coming to an uninspiring end thanks to the knockout blows.
Once Frankie Edgar was finished for the first time by Brian Ortega at UFC 222 earlier this month (see it again here), critics started whispering that perhaps “The Answer’s” skills were diminishing a bit and couldn’t hang with the top up-and-coming young studs.
According to Holloway, though, Aldo and Edgar are still two elite combatants, and people need to stop delivering their eulogies because they are still alive and kicking.
“Me and Frankie [Edgar] still got unfinished business. Everyone is talking about Frankie and [Jose] Aldo like they’re two dead guys. They say, ‘Too washed up.’ They’re still animals. They’ve been at the top of the heap,” proclaimed Max during a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
“They’ve been top-five, top-three in any division they were in, forever. People keep talking about how these guys are old; we’ll see. You can’t speak on it yet. It’s a couple losses. It’s MMA.”
Holloway was quick to praise Edgar after his knockout loss for stepping up to face Ortega when he already had a title shot in the bag. And though Edgar had never experienced it up until March 3, 2018, “getting caught” is part of the game.
“You get caught. Frankie, Aldo, these guys are not dead. They’re mid-30s and they’re fighting. People act like Frankie and Aldo are not the top-three guys. They’re still ranked in the top-three with [Brian] Ortega,” he said.
While a trilogy fight against Aldo — who will face Jeremy Stephens at UFC ‘Singapore’ on June 23 — is unlikely, getting re-booked to face Edgar is still a very real scenario.
“Come on, guys. Let’s be serious, let’s be real. These guys are not dead, they’re not gone. They’re still around. We’ll see what happens. But right now, the path is going a different way for me with Ortega and I’m focused,” he concluded
Edgar — who has two losses to Aldo — is set to face off against Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 128 on April 21 in Atlantic City.
And if history has shown us anything, a couple of impressive victories is all Edgar needs to convince the promotion to give him another title fight.