Frankie Edgar may have helped save UFC 222, but the cost was too high as far as Jose Aldo is concerned.
You won’t find former featherweight champion Jose Aldo sticking his neck out for the UFC these days. He’s been feeling unappreciated from the moment the promotion started favoring Conor McGregor over him, and actions like not granting him an immediate rematch against McGregor and not allowing him to box like McGregor haven’t helped. From this mindset comes a very obvious take on Frankie Edgar’s unfortunate loss to Brian Ortega at UFC 222.
”I just thought it was a mistake on Edgar’s end to fight Brian, who’s a very tough guy,” he said on Brazil’s ‘Giro Combate’ show (translation via MMA Junkie). “He would have fought for the title, but he risked that and lost. Now he’s all the way back there again. I think that was his biggest mistake.”
Aldo is currently trying to be strategic about getting back to his former featherweight title. With two recent losses to champ Max Holloway, he knows he’s not going to get another shot until something changes at the top of the division. That’s why he’s currently calling out tough journeyman Jeremy Stephens, lest Sean Shelby match him up against another surging youngster like Ortega. If Aldo is going to fight someone like that, it better be for a belt.
“For me, a better scenario would be for Brian to win,” Aldo said when asked about the inevitable Holloway vs. Ortega fight. “Because this way I know I have big chances of fighting for the title again.”