Jose Aldo returns one final time to battle Jonathan Martinez in Saturday’s UFC 301 (ESPN+) co-main occasion. Daniel Cormier reminisces his run to this point and says Aldo purchased respect for the lighter weight courses.
Daniel Cormier credit Jose Aldo for spotlighting rising stars Conor McGregor and Max Holloway (Supply: Instagram/IMAGO)
Daniel Cormier credit Jose Aldo for serving to legitimize lighter-weight names and bolstering them to newer heights. Aldo returns on house turf to satisfy Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 on Saturday’s co-main occasion. ‘The King of Rio’ is preventing his final outing underneath his contractual run. Forward of this, ‘DC’ touches on how names like Max Holloway and Conor McGregor have reached their fandom on the heels of the unique featherweight G.O.A.T.
Jose Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) is a former WEC/UFC featherweight titleholder and UFC HOF. He had beforehand declared his exit after a UD loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278. Aldo had a slick title run with seven defenses earlier than finally opting to drop right down to 135. Daniel Cormier praised Aldo for not solely participating folks along with his performances but additionally inspiring his friends.
I didn’t respect small guys to that diploma earlier than Aldo. So there isn't any Max [Holloway], Conor [McGregor], or any respect for the smaller dudes ...if Aldo didn’t cleared the path along with his performances...The second that I really acknowledged his star was when he fought Chad Mendes...I believed to myself, ‘Wow, if I can have one second, only one second to really feel what this man is feeling proper now, my total athletics profession can be full.’ That’s what Jose Aldo was...Daniel Cormier through the “Good Man/Dangerous Man” Podcast (ESPNPodcenter)
In essence, Cormier appears spot-on in his evaluation. Holloway is the present BMF champion, and he gained with an all-time knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. He’s the one fighter ever to have held the outdated undisputed belt, legacy, and silver strap. In the meantime, ‘The Infamous’ boasts UFC’s high ten gate buys because the consensus PPV king. Nonetheless, they solely rose to fame after Aldo.
In actual fact, when McGregor, 22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC, fought Holloway within the undercard of UFC Struggle Night time: Shogun vs. Sonnen, Shogun Rua was in splits. The cap-totting demeanor of two scrawny featherweights had incited fairly the crackles from him. The present fandom that they boast is all courtesy of the legacy Aldo created. Cormier says that earlier than Aldo’s final look at UFC 301 at Farmasi Enviornment in Rio de Janeiro,
Jose Aldo’s legacy: What’s subsequent for the stellar 145-pound class?
Daniel Cormier commends UFC 301’s returning fighter Jose Aldo as a pioneer of the featherweights. He can’t be extra proper on the topic. The destiny of the division has been very cyclic, with a restricted staple of champions, nevertheless it all begins with Aldo.
155lbs is super-stacked with ex-champs, hitters, and phenomenal clinchers. Like Dustin Poirier, Mateusz Gamrot, Rafael Fiziev, Bobby Inexperienced, Charles Oliveira, and so forth. The 170lbers boast a plethora of shiners like Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, Geoff Neal, Stephen Thompson, and Jack Della Maddalena. Nonetheless, solely 5 fighters have held the 145 title strap. Yair Rodriguez marks the sixth individual to carry an interim belt after UFC 284.
When WEC merged with the brand new UFC, Aldo defeated Mark Hominick at UFC 129 on Apr 30, 2011, within the first-ever undisputed featherweight championship bout. He made profitable defenses towards Kenny Florian, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes (2), and others. Conor McGregor snagged it notoriously at UFC 194. After him, Max Holloway gained an interim strap subsequent at UFC 206: Holloway vs. Pettis.
Alexander Volkanovski would win it and go 5-0, together with a win over interim champion Rodríguez at UFC 290. Ilia Topuria KO’ed Volk at UFC 298 and altered the guard. Now, the Aussie even considers Aldo the G.O.A.T. for stretching his title run and kickstarting all of it. There’s no telling what future modifications the division will see, however Jose Aldo’s function in that has been plain to this point.
In case you missed it:
https://firstsportz.com/daniel-cormier-credits-jose-aldo-for-rendering-fame-to-max-holloway-conor-mcgregor/