Photo by Josh Hedges/WEC Productions LLC/WEC Productions LLC via Getty Images
Vintage “Scarface” in action.
We all know how Twitter is also a time capsule, among other things. This week, it reminded me of the menace that Jose Aldo was when his kicking game was in full swing.
Y’all remember when Jose Aldo used to leg kick people to DEATH? #UFC251 https://t.co/6LzWyZaPaA
— GspotMMA (@GspotMMA) July 8, 2020
That battering left Urijah Faber leaning on crutches the next day and his left leg showing three shades of purple. From then on, everyone really took notice, and Aldo was on his way to legendary status and recognition.
But let’s rewind a bit more to five years prior, to May 12, 2005, in Rio de Janeiro. With three first-round finishes under his belt, Aldo was looking to continue his streak against Aritano Barbosa. And man, did he deliver.
At this stage of his career, Aldo already showed glimpses of what his performances would look like in the coming years. His legs were his weapons of choice and as the opponent, it was a matter of picking whether you’d get finished by a kick or a knee strike.
For this fight, Aldo went for both. Barbosa shelled up as soon as the first knee strike landed, then dropped to the mat after the second that followed right after. Aldo softened him up with a barrage of punches, then switched to murderer mode and threw soccer kicks using both legs.
Barbosa caught two clean ones to the same side of the head before the referee intervened to stop the fight in just 20 seconds of action.
These days, we don’t get to see much of these fights from Aldo. But as a fan of vintage “Scarface,” here’s hoping he would show up this weekend at UFC 251 against Petr Yan, at least for old times’ sake.