UFC President Dana White recently confirmed that featherweight champion Jose Aldo would next defend his title against surging interim champion Max Holloway, but he wasn’t sure of the date that the fight would take place. According to a report from UFC.com, however, the fight is set to headline UFC 212 on June 3, 2017 in
UFC President Dana White recently confirmed that featherweight champion Jose Aldo would next defend his title against surging interim champion Max Holloway, but he wasn’t sure of the date that the fight would take place.
According to a report from UFC.com, however, the fight is set to headline UFC 212 on June 3, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
After losing his title via 13 second knockout to lightweight champion Conor McGregor at Dec. 2015’s UFC 194, Aldo recently got back to his winning ways with a unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar at last July’s UFC 200, which made him the interim 145-pound champion. He was then promoted to undisputed champion when McGregor was stripped of his featherweight strap.
Holloway, on the other hand, has been on a tear ever since dropping a decision to McGregor in 2013. “Blessed” has won an incredible 10 straight and is coming off of a dominant stoppage victory over former 155-pound king Anthony Pettis at Dec. 2016’s UFC 206, which made him the current interim titleholder.
Who do you expect to come out on top when Aldo and Holloway fight in a title unification bout at UFC 212?
Interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of undisputed 145-pound titleholder Jose Aldo. After extending his winning streak to an incredible 10 straight and winning the interim strap with a dominant performance over Anthony Pettis at last months’s UFC 206, Holloway called out Aldo, who expected the fight to
Interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of undisputed 145-pound titleholder Jose Aldo.
After extending his winning streak to an incredible 10 straight and winning the interim strap with a dominant performance over Anthony Pettis at last months’s UFC 206, Holloway called out Aldo, who expected the fight to take place at UFC 208 in Brooklyn in February. Holloway, however, suffered an ankle injury and is unable to fight again next month.
With that being said, there were rumors of Aldo moving up in weight to accept an interim lightweight title bout. If “Scarface” isn’t available when Holloway plans to return in May, the Hawaiian is willing to defend his interim title:
“I’m not going to wait around,” Holloway told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”
If he were to defend his title, Holloway said he would be interested in facing off with former lightweight boss Frankie Edgar and cleaning out the division:
“I want to fight Edgar,” he said. “I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”
“Blessed” then said that he’s been calling out the division’s top names for years without much success. Now, however, he implied that he will he get his wish:
“I’ve been calling out Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar forever,” he said. “I’ve been calling out the top-five guys every damn time. We just wasn’t getting a fight. Now it’s here, and I want them even more. The storyline is even better.”
At the end of the day, it’s likely that Holloway and Aldo will face off in a title unifier later this year and he invited the Brazilian’s fans to come over to his side:
“Brazil deserves better,” Holloway said. “Get off the Aldo train. Waldo’s train? Where is the train? My train is easy to find. Come on over.”
Would you like to see these two featherweight titans square off?
According to Jose Aldo, a featherweight title unification bout between him and interim titleholder Max Holloway was set for Feb. 11’s UFC 208 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, although that fight is no longer taking place at that event. “Scarface” has accused Holloway of ducking him, but it appears as if “Blessed”
According to Jose Aldo, a featherweight title unification bout between him and interim titleholder Max Holloway was set for Feb. 11’s UFC 208 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, although that fight is no longer taking place at that event. “Scarface” has accused Holloway of ducking him, but it appears as if “Blessed” is too injured to fight at UFC 208.
Holloway’s manager recently took to Instagram to explain why the Hawaiian won’t be fighting in Brooklyn, also posting a picture of Holloway’s injured ankle. Check it out below:
A photo posted by Brian Butler-Au (@suckerpunchent) on
“Blessed” is riding a division best 10 fight win streak and he most recently dominated and stopped former lightweight boss Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 earlier this month to secure the interim strap.
Aldo, on the other hand, is coming off of a decision victory over Frankie Edgar last July. He has also said that he has been offered an interim lightweight title bout given Holloway’s injury.
Would you like to see Holloway and Aldo meet next, or would you be more interested in seeing the Brazilian move up to 155-pounds?
While Conor McGregor still claims that he is a two-weight UFC world champion, the promotion did indeed strip him of his 145-pound title a few weeks back, making Jose Aldo, a man McGregor knocked out in just 13 seconds to steal the title last December, the undisputed champion once again. Since suffering that harrowing loss
While Conor McGregor still claims that he is a two-weight UFC world champion, the promotion did indeed strip him of his 145-pound title a few weeks back, making Jose Aldo, a man McGregor knocked out in just 13 seconds to steal the title last December, the undisputed champion once again. Since suffering that harrowing loss at UFC 194 in Las Vegas, Aldo has campaigned for a rematch with the “Notorious” one, but at this point, it appears as if McGregor’s days at featherweight are practically over.
The Irishman moving up in weight doesn’t necessarily mean Aldo’s chances of landing a rematch are gone, however, but if they are, he can be at peace at with that as long as his title is around his waist:
Champion
“Yeah, I’d have peace,” Aldo recently told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. “No problem. I’m an athlete, so of course, it would be nice to have the rematch, but it’s not something that would take away my peace. I think there’s only one thing that would take away my peace and that’s if I wasn’t the champion. My objective since I started my career was: become the champion, remain the champion, retire the champion.”
Now back at the helm at 145-pounds, Aldo was expected to defend his title next against surging Hawaiian Max Holloway, who recently stopped Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 in Toronto to become the interim champion. Aldo even said after that bout that he and Holloway would be fighting at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, although that doesn’t seem to be the plan anymore.
“Scarface” actually said that he was offered an interim lightweight title bout instead:
Ducking…
“No, the Brooklyn fight is not happening,” he said. “I now expect and believe I will be fighting in early March. Either March 3 or March 4, I can’t remember. I believe they will soon announce an interim lightweight title fight with me. They’ve been trying to find me an opponent, and — surprise, surprise — at least one has already turned down the fight against me. I’m waiting to see who they will find.”
After that fight, Holloway said a bunch of different things. First, I heard he twisted his ankle and wouldn’t have time to heal. Then I heard he had a trip booked to Disney World with his kids and he wouldn’t be able to reschedule. Then I heard his gym is closed during the holidays and he wouldn’t have enough time to train. So he’s basically going around, talking a lot of trash, saying a lot of bullshit and acting like a punk. He just talking shit.
As far as who exactly turned down the bout, Aldo was reluctant to name names:
“You gotta ask the UFC that. They’ve asked me not to say anything. I won’t say who it is because it’s a surprise. A guy we never thought would turn it down turned it down, because his father didn’t think it was good. I’m tired of people turning down fights. I want to put some pressure so they’ll take the fight.”
With McGregor reportedly taking a break after winning the lightweight strap last month, there were rumors of a potential interim title bout being booked between top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Aldo throwing his name into this mix is certainly an intriguing turn of events.
Stay tuned to LowKickMMA as more news unfolds regarding the 155-pound title picture.
