Everyone has been shocked that 10-year MMA champion, Jose Aldo, has been knocked out last UFC 194 in just seconds into the first round. With a loss this devastating, it is expected that there would definitely be an immediate rematch.
However, it looks like Aldo won’t get to have a rematch to get his belt back. Although there aren’t any official statements about this yet, a lot of people would get disappointed if this will actually happen, including fellow former UFC champion, Junior De Santos.
Dos Santos said that it would definitely be unfair for Aldo, who was able to retain his title for a decade, to just let that belt slip away without getting a rematch against McGregor. “The Notorious”, on the other hand, is now holding a record of 19-2 MMA and 7-0 UFC.
Dos Santos, who has a record of 17-3 MMA and 11-2 UFC, is going up against Alistair Overeem in UFC on FOX 17 this coming Saturday. Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem will be the co-headliner of the night. Just like everyone else, Dos Santos was very surprised by how the fight went down. Even though the fight ended in a knockout, the former champ said that he was a bit devastated because the fight ended too soon so there’s not enough time to decide which between the two is the best fighter in the MMA division.
“I was very surprised; Conor McGregor is a very strange guy, he’s doing well, and he’s a really good fighter. The way it happened happened – Jose Aldo, I’m a big fan of him. I know him very well, and when I saw him train, man, that guy is amazing. McGregor is very confident in that fight, and he landed the perfect punch right on the chin. That was good for him. Look at that fight. We were expecting a fight, but we didn’t see a fight,” Dos Santos said during a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
A single fight, especially if it ended quickly, isn’t always a good basis whether a fighter is really good or it just had some struck of luck. Dos Santos believes that the UFC knows this fact, that’s why they gave former women’s MMA bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, an immediate rematch against pro-boxing champ and current bantamweight champion, Holly Holm. Aside from this, former heavyweight champ Velasquez will be fighting Fabricio Werdum in another rematch as well.
“In my opinion, we are having a lot of rematches right now: Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, Ronda Rousey and Holly (Holm). I think the rematch between these guys (McGregor and Aldo) makes more sense than all of the other ones because we didn’t see a fight. I was surprised by the fight,” Dos Santos said.
Aldo has agreed to go into a rematch during the post-fight interview, but it looks like there’s a possibility that it might not happen anymore. McGregor has recently released his plans with his career, and that includes either going against Frankie Edgar for the title defense or move up to lightweight division and try to get the a second title belt.
If this happens, Aldo won’t get a chance to win his belt back.
“Nobody wants to lose in this sport because it’s a very bad thing; I’m sure Jose Aldo is very sad right now because he lost, but he was holding that title for such a long time that it’s a good thing that happened. It’s going to give him more. It’s going to drive him to come back better, and he will be better without all that pressure. He will come back to the top, and I have no doubt. He’s one of the best of all time, and in my opinion, it’s not going to take too much to come back to the top of this division. I hope the UFC makes this rematch because I want to see a fight,” Dos Santos added.