Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight title for the fifth time on Saturday night, defeating “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung by fourth-round TKO.
The victory came for Aldo after a clean sweep through the first three rounds, where he used tactical striking to time every shot he landed on Jung to outpoint the tough featherweight challenger.
The end of the fight came, however, after a strange exchange of punches left Jung with only one arm.
As the two fighters both threw punches, Jung’s right hand slammed into Aldo’s shoulder, and the Korean’s own arm seemed to pop in a weird motion. A second later, Jung was shaking his arm and something was noticeably wrong with his shoulder.
“I noticed his arm popped out and then I took him down and tried to punch him,” Aldo told Fuel TV after his victory at UFC 163. “I knew that I won the first, second and third rounds, I just wanted to slow down a little bit so I wouldn’t be exposed against him.”
It was an odd end to the fight, but a dominant victory for Aldo nonetheless, who was winning on the scorecards going into the final two rounds.
After the fight was over, Aldo explained that his strategy was such to avoid Jung’s heavy-handed bombs, which he’s known to throw, while admittedly slowing down in the fourth round to preserve the victory.
“I knew that I was winning the first three rounds, and I didn’t want to expose myself,” Aldo explained. “Normally, I slow down a little bit in the fourth because I don’t want to expose. I hold the belt, the belt’s mine, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. You don’t fight to expose yourself in the fourth round. Every time people think that I’m getting tired, I’m not, my cardio’s great.”
The win on Saturday night marked Aldo’s 13th in a row since signing to Zuffa in 2008 (originally in the WEC before moving to the UFC), with all of those victories coming in the featherweight division.
With such a dominant reign atop the weight class, Aldo has teased in the past about a potential move to lightweight for a new crop of challenges.
Following his win over Jung, it seems that door is open more now than ever before.
“I don’t know, I would love it, but this is with Joe Silva,” Aldo said. “If he gives me the opportunity, I would go there and fight.”
There are plenty of interesting matchups for Aldo at 155 pounds, but before he can think about going there he first had to tend to an injured foot he suffered in the fight against Jung.
According to Aldo, the first kick he threw of the night connected flush with Jung’s knee, and while he’s not sure if he broke it or not, he’s taking a trip to the hospital to have it X-rayed to find out exactly what may be wrong.
Hopefully, Aldo’s injury isn’t too severe and he can get back in action soon; then it’s just a matter of which weight class he’ll be competing at when he returns.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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