It took Jose Aldo Jr. four rounds to find the opening he needed to solve the puzzle of Chan Sung Jung. But when the opportunity presented itself, the UFC featherweight champion pounced in vintage Jose Aldo style.
“The Korean Zombie” blew out his shoulder landing an overhand right in the fourth round of their title fight Saturday at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sensing the opening, Aldo pounced and swiftly finished Jung off. Referee Herb Dean waved off UFC 163‘s main event at 2:00 of the round.
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It was the 16th consecutive victory for Aldo and the seventh defense of his WEC/UFC 145-pound belt. With Anderson Silva’s loss last month, Aldo is now the second-longest reigning current champion in the UFC, behind welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
“Yes, I did see that he had separated his shoulder,” Aldo (23-1) said. “So I kicked him and I tried to put him down on the ground to get some ground and pound.”
The first thee rounds went off at a curious pace. Absent from Aldo’s game were the vicious, punishing leg kicks that have marked most of the champion’s fights.
And yet, Aldo was rarely pushed by Jung (13-4), either. Whether it was nerves in his biggest career moment, or rust from a 15-month layoff, Jung rarely showed the fighting spirit which has made him such a popular fighter.
When he did, Aldo had the answer, such as a second-round flying knee attempt. Aldo artfully dodged the onrushing Jung and turned it into a takedown as he caught Jung midair, rode him to the canvas, then stifled him on the ground.
“I saw it was a tough decision, so I thought that if I could take him down, put him with his back to the floor, I would be able to win the round,” said Aldo.
Down 3-0 on the scorecards, Jung finally picked up the pace in round four. But he blew out his shoulder connecting on an overhand right to Aldo’s head, and noticeably attempted to pop his shoulder back into the socket. Aldo was among those who noticed, as he immediately began landing high kicks to the injured shoulder, then swarmed Jung after he dropped.
Aldo has talked about moving up to lightweight. But he demurred when asked by color commentator Brian Stann what he’d like to do next.
“I don’t know,” Aldo said. “I just work for the UFC.”