Let me get right to it, Aldo. Does he deserve a rematch for everything he has done over the however many years he went undefeated and as a champion? Mmmm… In retrospect on paper yes, based on performance, no. Does Ronda deserve one despite being punched around the cage until she was knocked out by a kick? Yes. Difference? Activity.
Aldo is still to me one of the best fighters on the planet, but whether it was time or age or injuries he fought less often and less aggressive than before, he teetered on becoming a points fighter and didn’t care about marketing himself in the least bit. Anderson Silva and Aldo were for a time very similar in their position, the difference is that sometimes Anderson was the absolute worst fighter in the world to watch and others he was awe-inspiring to say the least. He also fought when he was asked to, tried to learn a tiny passable bit of the language of the company he works for (or at least the place where he fights the most) and would utilize that language when needed. Aldo hasn’t been nearly as spectacular as he once was, back when he buzz sawed through every single person they put in front of him.
At some point, whether he was protecting his belt or his record or the competition got tougher he stopped trying to finish the people they put in front of him and instead decided to cruise to a decision by outpointing people the same way Floyd Mayweather has done boxing. Look at his record since entering the UFC. Take one KO away because the Korean Zombie’s shoulder popped out and you’ll see that since 2011 he has finished 1 fight. Just 1 and some people credit that to grabbing a fence. That record compiled with the fact that he has the personality of a dead moth, fights once maybe twice a year and needs some guy in a suit to answer questions for him like he’s on trial, it’s hard to imagine the UFC saying, okay, we will give you another shot whenever YOU want, where ever YOU want.
Was he unbeaten in the organization for 4 years? Yes. In that time, he fought 8 times. Had one knockout. Almost fainted after a weight cut. Had to leave a scheduled Q&A appearance because he almost knocked himself out from starvation, wanted to start a union in an organization famous for hating unions, trashed the treatment of the employee’s of the very company he works for, and lastly pulled out of one of the biggest mega fights and multimillion dollar press tours created solely to hype him. That tour was probably the largest most watched, attended promotion the UFC had ever put on by the way. Worse, he pulled out with an injury that some say he could have fought with and his answer was, I don’t care what you think. Meanwhile his opponent had a worse injury and still came to fight.
Were some of his opinions legitimate, maybe, but they don’t make him look good in his employers eyes. This is how when it’s all tallied up it gets really murky when he said, I deserve this, because he honestly doesn’t. Ronda, she does the press, she does the media obligations, she does her job promoting herself to the point where I get sick of seeing her and she finished everyone and she consistently fought 2 times sometimes 3 a year and when they hyped her fight, she went there and fought. When someone got injured, she stepped in and sold out an arena. This is a huge difference between why she should get a rematch and Aldo shouldn’t. Also, he was knocked out in a period of time less than 13 seconds. And said it’s a fluke? It’s not a fluke when you get knocked out by a punch in a fight. I simply don’t believe in lucky punches.
Aldo got knocked out and while I was telling everyone that he was going to win, he didn’t. How would they hype the next fight? Would they use the performance from his last fight, what, the staredown? Meanwhile on Conor’s side they could show the entire fight as the highlight alone and we are supposed to get excited for what? Aldo’s options really should be, take another fight as soon as possible (like Cowboy, or Benson or Edgar tend to do after a defeat), crush that person, help the UFC build a case for why you need a rematch and then let that fight come to you because they are calling you to take it. Sitting home and saying, I won’t fight until he wants to fight me, I’m a fighter but I won’t fight. It’s my job but I won’t work because I deserve this. Ten-year reign and belt aside, nobody on earth deserves a thing unless there is a reason for us to believe it. Aldo has given zero reason.
Look at his record since entering the UFC, take one KO away because the Korean Zombie’s shoulder popped out and it wasn’t exactly a knockout and you’ll see that since 2011 he has finished 1 fight. Just 1 and some people credit that to grabbing a fence. That record compiled with the fact that he has the personality of a dead moth, fights once maybe twice a year and needs some guy in a suit to answer questions for him like he’s on trial, it’s hard to imagine the UFC saying, ”okay, we will give you another shot whenever YOU want, where ever YOU want.”
Was he unbeaten in the organization for 4 years? Yes. In that time, he fought 8 times. Had one knockout. Almost fainted after a weight cut. Had to leave a scheduled Q&A appearance because he almost knocked himself out from starvation, wanted to start a union in an organization famous for hating unions, trashed the treatment of the employee’s of the very company he works for, and lastly pulled out of one of the biggest mega fights and multimillion dollar press tours created solely to hype him. That tour was probably the largest most watched and attended promotion the UFC had ever put on by the way. Worse, he pulled out with an injury that some say he could have fought with and his answer was, I don’t care what you think. All while his opponent had what may have been a worse injury and still came to fight. reA some of his opinions legitimate, maybe, but they don’t make him look good in his employers eyes.
When it’s all tallied up it gets really murky when Aldo said, I deserve this, because he honestly doesn’t. Going back to Ronda, she does the press, she does the media obligations, she does her job promoting herself to the point where I get sick of seeing her and she finished everyone and has consistently fought 2 times, sometimes 3 a year and when UFC hyped her fight, she went there and fought. When someone got injured, she stepped in and sold out an arena. This is a huge difference between why she should get a rematch and Aldo should not. Also, he was knocked out in a period of time less than 13 seconds. And said it’s a fluke? It’s not a fluke when you get knocked out by a punch in a fight. I simply don’t believe in lucky punches. Aldo got knocked out and while I was telling everyone that he was going to win, he didn’t. How would they hype the next fight? Would they use the performance from his last fight, what, the staredown?
Also, he was knocked out in a period of time less than 14 seconds. Then said it was a fluke? It’s not a fluke when you get knocked out by a punch in a fight. The mat ring did not cave in and you landed on a rusty nail and needed a tetanus shot. I simply don’t believe in lucky punches. Aldo got knocked out and while I was telling everyone that would listen to me that he was going to win and how Conor could not beat him, he didn’t. I was wrong. How will the UFC hype the next fight? Would they use the performance from his last fight, what, the staredown? Meanwhile on Conor’s side, they could show the entire fight as his highlight alone and we are supposed to get excited for what? When this happened to Cain Valesquez he took a fight 6 months later and beat (a person he already beat) so viciously that everyone said, put him against Dos Santos, as soon and as safely as possible.
Aldo’s options really should be, take another fight as soon as possible (like Cowboy, or Benson or Edgar tend to do after a loss), crush that person in a way that make us think you might get arrested for assault, help the UFC build a case for why you need a rematch and then let that fight come to you because they are calling for you to take it. Sitting home and saying, I won’t fight until he wants to fight me, I’m a fighter but I won’t fight. It’s my job but I won’t work because I deserve this. Ten-year reign and belt aside, nobody on earth deserves a thing unless there is a reason for us to believe it. Aldo has given zero reason for me as a huge fan of his to believe he’d do any different in 26 seconds if they were to fight tomorrow.
Aldo is doing zero to help his own image. For him to say, say I don’t care, I’ll wait a year. I don’t care is not the best way to go about getting a title shot, gaining any new fans or keeping a career afloat. Unless Conor himself says, I want to fight him and no one else, then Aldo is essentially announcing his retirement now and making it seem as if it’s not his fault at all and he is the victim of why he isn’t fighting this year. If this were chess, Aldo just pushed all of his pieces straight into the UFC’s and is now backing his king into the corner as they start lining up rooks and knights. Good luck with that strategy.
