Jose Aldo, the longest-reigning featherweight champion in the history of the UFC is moving to bantamweight. Recently some pictures have surfaced of Aldo looking rather frail as he has been working on conditioning his body to perform at the lower weight class.
Two gentlemen that know Aldo rather well ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and one time Aldo nemesis extraordinaire Conor McGregor Took notice of these pictures and had themselves a very interesting discussion about Aldo and his drop to 135 pounds the via Twitter today.
Helwani after seeing the pictures posted:
AH – The first one is very troubling. Still, don’t understand why Aldo is doing this.
CM – I disagree here. He looks more than on top of it in my experienced opinion. Well trimmed in advance, and naturally a lighter man now. This can only be done over a long length of time and with complete dedication. Respect! I wish him well and am excited to see him in this division.
AH – Fair enough. Respect. But, was it truly necessary at this stage in his career? What can be gained from a cut like this at this point? Prior to his last fight, a loss to the man who is fighting for the belt next week, he looked great in two straight wins/finishes.
CM – The rejuvenation of your career with fresh goals and targets!
The prestige of being a UFC World champion in two weight divisions!
The feeling of excitement you will give the fans with all the new potential match-ups that can be made!
All great and valid reasons!
Enjoy ?
AH – Ok, all valid reasons. Theater at its finest. I just hope he is healthy. Let’s revisit this conversation the Monday after the fight, shall we?
It was a very interesting back-and-forth between these two. Whereas McGregor sees an opportunity for Aldo to reinvent himself and try to accomplish something that only four others have by becoming a 2 weight champion, Helwani doesn’t understand, or seemingly doesn’t understand the mindset of Aldo and seems genuinely concerned for the health and safety of this 1st ballot hall-of-famer.
Helwani brought up Aldo’s last fight against Alexander Volkanovski Where he went the distance and lost a decision to a man who is now fighting for the featherweight championship on the same night at UFC 245.
I understand why he brought up that fight because Aldo looked really good in that fight even in a losing effort. He looked crisp and healthy and these pictures do look a little concerning so I understand where he’s coming from.
I’m going to side with McGregor on this one. Jose Aldo is a professional athlete and has been for a long time. While he has had weight cutting issues in the past, and many expected him to move up to lightweight, I see no reason why he can’t make this drop to bantamweight and try to recapture glory one more time.
Aldo himself said he is nowhere near done, and he’s excited about this opportunity in a new division against an entirely new group of fighters to contend with.
Aldo’s debut at bantamweight will be no easy task as he takes on former title contender Marlon Moraes who is an absolute beast and showed no mercy to his opponent once the octagon door is locked.
UFC 245 is a fully loaded star-studded card to end the years pay per view schedule for the UFC. With 3 title fights to close out the night some of the other very interesting storylines and bouts on this card have not garnered the attention that they deserve in my opinion.
Moraes vs Aldo is one of those fights that is flying under the radar right now, but come fight night expect this fight to be talked about more than some of the others on the card because this one is going to deliver bigger than anybody may expect. It will not be a walk in the park for Moraes, and the fact that Aldo is fully committed to making noise in the bantamweight division, (as evidenced in the photos) we should expect an all-out war and performances from both of these gentlemen.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.