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Saturday’s UFC 301 card will be the promotion’s first in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since UFC 283 in January of 2023. There have been some complaints about the…
Saturday’s UFC 301 card will be the promotion’s first in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since UFC 283 in January of 2023. There have been some complaints about the…
Jose Aldo will be rooting for Conor McGregor to have a successful comeback when he faces Michael Chandler at…
Jose Aldo will be rooting for Conor McGregor to have a successful comeback when he faces Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29.
McGregor will be ending his three-year-long layoff due to a broken leg when he faces Chandler in a highly-anticipated fight. It’s a bout that has been in the works for quite some time and despite Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo being former rivals, the Brazilian says he will be rooting for the Irishman.
“I always root for the guys who I fought and the guys who have beat me because that just proves that I lost to the best. I hope that he can go in there and be the Conor of old and be aggressive, and go in there to finish the fight… I expect great things from that fight,” Jose Aldo said to MMAJunkie.
Despite McGregor knocking Aldo out in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in 2015 to win the featherweight title, the Brazilian will be cheering him on and thinks he can finish the Irishman.
Jose Aldo will be returning to the UFC on Saturday, May 4 when he takes on Jonathan Martinez.
Aldo had left the UFC after his loss to Merab Dvalishvili as he wanted to explore boxing options. He ended up having three boxing matches, as he will return to MMA to fight out his UFC deal as he says he will then explore more boxing options, including the match against Floyd Mayweather.
“That’s basically what I told the UFC a couple months ago: I want to do this fight, see where I’m at, see how I do, see how I perform and then I can make a decision,” Aldo said to MMAJunkie. “I’m looking at maybe a big boxing fight maybe somewhere down the line later this year. But we’ll revisit that with the UFC once this fight is done with Jonathan Martinez.
“That fight with Floyd Mayweather was basically all set and done. Ali (Abdelaziz) was the one that was negotiating that and I don’t really know what happened and it ended up not panning out for us to fight in Saudi Arabia. But there’s a big event on Netflix later this year (with Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson), and hopefully, I can get on that. But we’ll have to see. There’s a lot of options floating.”
Before that can happen, Aldo is focused on his return fight in MMA against Martinez in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Slated to snap his almost two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts next weekend at UFC 301 in a homecoming…
Slated to snap his almost two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts next weekend at UFC 301 in a homecoming return, former featherweight kingpin, Jose Aldo has confirmed his return bout was supposed to come against another former champion, Dominick Cruz, before the bout was scrapped.
Aldo, a former undisputed WEC and UFC featherweight gold holder, has been sidelined from the Octagon since 2022, most recently suffering a unanimous decision defeat in a blemish against surging number one contender, Merab Dvalishvili.
And slated to make his return to action next weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Hall of Fame inductee, Aldo takes on Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event of UFC 301 in a Brazilian homecoming, however, a long-anticipated clash featuring the Manaus favorite was briefly in the works.
Sharing his thoughts on a pairing with Martinez, Aldo confirmed that initially, the promotion had floated a long-rumored ‘super fight’ of olden days against former two-time bantamweight champion, Cruz, until the American veteran was forced from a pairing due to undisclosed issues.
“Just spoke with ‘The King of Rio’ Jose Aldo, who confirmed that Dominick Cruz was initially supposed to be his opponent at UFC 301,” Sportsnet reporter, Aaron Bronsteter posted on his official X account. “Aldo had heard that Cruz had an issue during his camp that forced him to withdraw, which led to the booking against Jonathan Martinez.”
Himself sidelined since he took main event status at UFC Fight Night San Diego, Cruz suffered a devastating fourth round high-kick KO loss to most recent title challenger, Marlon Vera in the pair’s title-eliminator – snapping his two fight winning run almost two years ago.
UFC 301 takes place on May 4. from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, with an undisputed flyweight championship fight between Alexandre Pantoja, and Steve Erceg set to take main event honors.
Would you still like to see Jose Aldo fight Dominick Cruz in the future?
Steve Erceg can’t wait to share the stage at UFC 301 with one of the greatest featherweights of all…
Steve Erceg can’t wait to share the stage at UFC 301 with one of the greatest featherweights of all time — Jose Aldo.
On Saturday, May 4, UFC Hall of Famer returns to the Octagon for the first time in nearly two years when the promotion heads back to his home country for a loaded night of fights at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Stepping into the co-main event spotlight, ‘Junior’ will square off with streaking bantamweight standout Jonathan Martinez.
Speaking with Andrew Whitelaw in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview, Steve Erceg — who headlines UFC 301 opposite reigning and defending flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja — is thrilled about the opportunity to share MMA’s biggest stage with one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters the sport has ever seen.
“He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time,” Erceg said of Aldo. “My coach was a big leg kicker and Jose Aldo’s kicks to the leg are some of the best you’ll see. I’m a big fan of his and I understand that he probably won’t be a big fan of mine at the time, but it’s super cool to fight on a card with him and for Brazil. The ‘King of Rio’ is coming back. How can you not be excited?”
Just three fights into his run with the promotion, Steve Erceg will fight for his first world title when he meets the flyweight division’s top dog, Alexandre Pantoja, in the UFC 301 headliner.
Pantoja goes into his latest defense with an overall record of 27-5 with eight of his wins coming by way of knockout and another 10 via submission. Recognizing the well-roundedness of his opponent, Erceg knows that he’s in for a tough test, but is undeniably excited for the opportunity to show up and show out against the best of the best.
“He’s very good. Obviously, he’s a world champion,” Erceg said. “His ground game is his best asset. He’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu. He’s great off the back and he’s a lot stronger than I think people give him credit for. There are positions where his opponent will get underhooks and you expect them to use that to get up, but they can’t seem to find an avenue to move.
“The other asset I guess would be his chin. He does a lot of things wrong on the feet, but he gets away with it because of his chin. He’s a great fighter. He’s tough. I’m not gonna just run over him. It’s going to be a very hard well-fought fight and we’re going to see who the best man is.”
As for how Erceg plans on leaving Brazil with UFC gold wrapped around his waist, ‘AstroBoy’ believes it will come down to controlling the pace and taking away opportunities for the champ to gather himself mid-fight.
“If I let him dictate the pace, that is bad for me,” Erceg added. “I have to make sure that I take it out of his realm. He does burst really hard when he’s going, but he does need those rests to get his breath back and continue on with the fight. If I can take those rests away, I think it’s going to be a bad night for him.”
Currently, Pantoja is a sizeable favorite going into the scrap, sitting at -250 on a majority of sportsbooks. An understandable spot considering he holds victories over some of the biggest names to come through 125, including Manel Kape, Brandon Royval, Alex Perez, and former flyweight titleholder Brandon Moreno on two separate occasions.
“He’s beaten a lot of guys who I thought were more talented, that’s for sure. … He’s definitely got some good genetics,” Erceg concluded.
Watch the full exclusive interview with Steve Erceg below:
Reacting to the news of former-foe, Jose Aldo’s stunning, retirement-snapping comeback to mixed martial arts at UFC 301 in…
Reacting to the news of former-foe, Jose Aldo’s stunning, retirement-snapping comeback to mixed martial arts at UFC 301 in May, Conor McGregor has claimed he’s happy to see the Brazilian make a return to the Octagon.
Aldo, the promotion’s inaugural featherweight champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee, is slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 301 in two months’ time in his native Brazil, taking on bantamweight contender, Jonathan Martinez.
Sidelined from mixed martial arts for almost two years time by the time of his comeback, Manaus favorite, Aldo most recently saw a three-fight winning run halted by expected next title challenger, Merab Dvalishvili in a decision loss to the Georgian.
And booked to return following a pair of professional boxing matches in his time away from the Octagon, WEC veteran, Aldo takes on Martinez – and despite sharing one of the most distinct rivalries in the sport’s history with ex-two-weight champion, McGregor, the Brazilian received massive praise for making a return.
“Look at (Jose) Aldo now, [it’s] great to see Jose back,” Conor McGregor told MMA Fighting. “I was really happy to see Jose back. I was actually taken aback that he did retired when he did retire.”
“He was a contestant for the f*cking title,” Conor McGregor. “He was in title contention in my opinion, where I was looking. He was very unlucky to not actually scoop the title. And, you know, he fought the champions, and whatnot. … Now he’s back, I’m delighted to see him back. [He’s a] tremendous goer, always great for the company. And, there you go, let’s go.”
Fighting in a featherweight championship unification bout back in 2015, McGregor, the then-interim titleholder turned in a record-setting knockout win over Aldo in just 13 seconds, unifying the championships and handing the Brazilian his first promotional defeat.
What are your thoughts on Conor McGregor’s praise for rival Jose Aldo?
UFC Hall of Famer José Aldo is returning to the octagon at UFC 301 in his first bout since announcing his retirement in 2022. Aldo will take on Jonathan…
UFC Hall of Famer José Aldo is returning to the octagon at UFC 301 in his first bout since announcing his retirement in 2022. Aldo will take on Jonathan…