It’s been a few weeks now since Jose Aldo got knocked cold by Conor McGregor, but former opponent Urijah Faber still feels pretty bad for the longtime featherweight champion.
Some moments just leave their mark, even on fighters that weren’t involved. They tend to happen in fights so big that everyone is paying close attention. UFC 194: Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor was one of those fights, and as it happens, gave the MMA world one of those moments. When, just 13 seconds into the first round, Conor McGregor flattened Aldo with a counter hook, sending a 6 year undefeated title run into oblivion, everyone took notice.
Urijah Faber certainly did as well. The former WEC featherweight champion and one time challenger to Jose Aldo’s crown gave his thoughts on the champions loss (and the new champ’s win) in a recent interview with the MMAUnderground (transcript via MMAFighting):
“I feel really bad for Aldo. Conor wasn’t lucky, lucky because obviously he’s trained his butt off to get to the point where he can do that, but it was very unlucky for Aldo. I feel bad for Aldo. I feel like he definitely could have had a better performance or at least showed his stuff a little bit better.
“That’s rough, but you’ve got to be impressed with Conor. The guy put his money where his mouth is. That’s some legendary shit right there. That’s a legendary thing to do. The build up the way it was with what Conor said and the way he delivered, that’s legendary.”
Part of why Faber feels bad for Aldo? He sees Frankie Edgar as the next logical challenger at featherweight. Not because the former champ hasn’t earned an immediate rematch, but because he should take some time off:
“You can’t deny Frankie. I think it’s unfortunate for Aldo. I don’t think Aldo needs to fight someone else in order to get a rematch. I don’t think he needs to fight his way back but I think Frankie is the next guy. If I were Aldo I would sit out, heal my head, work on whatever you need to work on and then get that fight again. I wouldn’t fight again [before the rematch], necessarily. I would just wait, heal and get my chance.
“I think he’s earned the right for himself to an immediate rematch but Frankie has earned … I mean he gets snuffed at every corner.”
Of course, there’s no telling what could happen by the time McGregor’s bout with RDA is over, or who the UFC will see as being in the best position for a title shot at featherweight. In the meantime, we’ll just have to get hyped for the UFC’s first champion vs. champion bout in years.