“They would have sent him off the right way. I much prefer Jose Aldo to fight for the title and then retire.”
Brendan Schaub is disappointed Jose Aldo has called it quits on his UFC career after such an underwhelming performance against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278.
Schaub wanted the former WEC and UFC featherweight champion to end his career on a high note and believes ‘his team really f-cked up’ by accepting the Dvalishvili fight instead of angling for a bantamweight title shot.
Aldo’s loss to Dvalishvili snapped a three-fight winning streak for the Brazilian, with Schaub making the case that ‘The Machine’ was a bad matchup and that ‘Scarface’ should have fought Aljamain Sterling for the belt instead.
“I think retirement is probably the best move because for him, to get back to you know…He’s a guy who fights for championships. And you know…he had a rough patch from 2019-2020, last three in a row. He lost to Volkanovski…Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan. So, then he goes on this three-fight win streak. He beats Chito, Pedro Munhoz, Rob Font…and his team really f***ed up taking that Merab fight,” Schaub, former UFC heavyweight turned podcast host and comedian, said in a recent YouTube video (h/t Sportskeeda).
“This was the finale and then you toss him in there. There was Merab character who’s just a nightmare of a matchup for him where he could have waited, probably get a title shot,” he added. “They would have sent him off the right way. I much prefer Jose Aldo to fight for the title and then retire.”
Aldo retired earlier this week after longtime coach Andre Pederneieras called for his prized student to hang up the gloves following his loss to Dvalishvili. The 36-year-old MMA veteran will be remembered as one of the greatest UFC featherweight champions of all time, having defended his title seven times from 2011-2015.