Jose Aldo’s coach, Andre Pederneiras, has responded angrily to insinuations that his fighter may have been using performance-enhancing drugs prior to the introduction of USADA regulations in the UFC.
Speaking on Joe Rogan‘s podcast, former fighter Brendan Schaub stated the Brazilian has “never failed a test, but who knows” and noted that Aldo’s camp had a landslide losing record since the rigorous testing was introduced, including the iconic featherweight’s 13-second defeat to Conor McGregor at UFC 194.
However, Pederneiras took to Twitter in an attempt to defuse such claims, posting pictures of Aldo’s physique in his last few fights:
Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting translated the text, with Pederneiras stating “to the clown that thinks Aldo was on something and isn’t anymore, draw your own conclusions.”
As reported by Cruz, Schaub raised big concerns about Aldo. “You’re bats–t crazy if you don’t think Jose Aldo’s body looked different,” he said. “You’re bats–t crazy if you think he’s gonna fight the same. Also, his camp, I think, is 1-7, 0-8 since this drug testing came out. So you’re talking about a different fighter, man. For me, that’s a huge X-factor.”
Rogan also added that Aldo looked “soft” and “deflated” during the introductions ahead of the much-anticipated showdown.
On his official Facebook page, Rogan has since apologised for the comments he made:
There was an audio “leak” from inside the UFC production truck right before Saturday night’s fight where I said that Jose Aldo’s body looked smooth and deflated, and that I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions and that it could have just been from doing a lot of cardio. I also said he looked nervous. Needless to say this caused a lot of controversy.
Since then people have posted photos of Aldo recently as well as from this fight, and he looked very similar. So for that, I stand corrected. My apologies for being wrong to Aldo and his trainer Andre Pederneiras. I have nothing but admiration and respect for both of them.
The Brazilian, who hadn’t lost for 10 years prior to UFC 194, didn’t look at his best in the cage. As we can see here courtesy of BT Sport, McGregor was able to land a left hand flush on his opponent’s chin:
There are other tangible factors to consider as to why Aldo lost this fight, though. The Brazilian was a little too reckless in the early exchanges and, as was evidenced by the punch he landed on McGregor before getting tagged himself, was intent on making a strong early impression.
The Brazilian seemed a little too hyped up, which is understandable. This fight was a long time in the making, and throughout multiple pre-fight press conferences and other media commitments, he had to cope with constant trash talk from the Irishman. It seems as though the barbs had riled Aldo, and McGregor was able to capitalise.
Pederneiras revealed in an open letter posted on his social media pages that he is expecting Aldo to bounce back in style, implying the Irishman was simply able to land a lucky blow, per MMA Junkie:
There was no taunting that could enter his head, there was no technical failure, just an unusual blow. A blow like that, connecting in someone’s chin while moving forward, isn’t something that happens all the time. But it has happened with us.
If it was the opposite, with McGregor being punched in the chin and Aldo in the eyebrow, we would be calling Aldo a superchampion today, the best of all times, but this is how sports are. Better luck for McGregor, who won and, therefore, is the new champion. …
The king has left, but will be back shortly.
Indeed, despite McGregor‘s claims that he’ll be off to lightweight in the future, there are plenty who think Aldo, the greatest 145-pound fighter the UFC has ever seen, is deserving of a rematch. UFC welterweight Matt Brown feels as though that should be the case:
If an immediate rematch eludes Aldo, it’s going to be tough to see where he turns next. McGregor has expressed a desire to hold and defend both the featherweight and lightweight belts concurrently, but in all likelihood, if he was to bulk up in weight, he’d have to vacate the former.
Aldo could potentially challenge for it again if it was vacated, with Frankie Edgar also deserving of a shot, although after suffering such a devastating loss, it’d possibly be a hollow triumph. Either way, the Brazilian finds himself in an unfamiliar situation at the moment, and all eyes will be on him to see just how strongly he’ll recover from this loss.
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