Jose Aldo (36, Brazil) left a record of 31 wins and 8 losses. As mentioned in his previous book, he gained notoriety as a tyrant by the middle of his career, boasting a variety of attacking options including punches, kicks and knee kicks. Afterwards, the pattern was changed to a punch-oriented counter job due to decreased physical ability and physical problems.
Despite this, he has 17 career knockout victories (55%). It was from the match against Conor McGregor (34, Ireland) that Aldo’s career began to twist properly. He faced him and was knocked out in 13 seconds of the first round, his second loss in his career. Since then, Aldo has added a whopping 6 losses, including 2 and 3 consecutive losses, and ink is sprinkled on his splendid career.
Although he did not run an undefeated streak, it must have been a painful fact for Aldo himself that he lost his image of the extreme by forgetting the good odds too much in the second half. There is no “if” in sports, but if he hadn’t lost to McGregor in vain, there was a good chance he would retire, and he would have done less forced marches, so it is highly likely that he would have been better in terms of performance.
Through a super fight, he may have won the title of two-weight champion by sticking with lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who was not much different from Sais at the time. It is not an exaggeration to say that McGregor’s career itself was twisted in one way or another. After the middle of his career, Aldo could be said to have struggled with his size.
Aldo is short (170 cm) and has a short wingspan (178 cm). In the trend of increasing height, it was not easy for short strikers who were not grapplers or grapplers to compete at the top. Until the middle, he actively used kicks, and such weaknesses were not highlighted, but it was difficult to change his fighting style to focus on punches. No matter how skilled you are, there is definitely a limit to what a short puncher can do.
Of course, Aldo couldn’t help it either. Aldo in his tyrant days took a lot of different kicks and big movements to overcome the limitations of his size. It was possible because he was at an age when he was in the prime of athleticism and physical strength. However, as he grew older, his physical abilities declined, and he had no choice but to change his pattern. This is why I struggled against players with similar skills and size.
It seems that the idea of trying to shake the difference in size first with a surprise attack worked in the background of the fight against McGregor, when the bell rang. Even if Aldo was only mid-170cm tall, he might have had a hard time finding an opponent until the moment he retired.
Aldo’s difficult opponent ‘Halloway’
Aldo’s most difficult opponent was definitely ‘Blessed’ Max Holloway (31, USA). Born in Waiana, Hawaii, he is a master of long-term combat, making use of his tall (180cm) physical condition. Because of his good stamina and toughness, he gnaws at and knocks down opponents throughout the match. Aldo, who had serious physical problems as he got older, was not a welcome opponent.
He raised his gear to the fullest and played an equal or superior game in the early stages, but was often eaten by Holloway, who maintained similar performance after the middle. His two consecutive TKO losses in 2017 prove this. After his second defeat, Aldo himself shook his head and showed no more desire for revenge. Because of this, many fans wonder what it would have been like if Aldo had met Holloway in his tyrannical days without physical problems.
Like Holloway, former lightweight champion Frank Edgar can be cited as a representative fighter who uses his stamina and strength to crush opponents by putting pressure on them. Skilled in both striking and grappling, he ambitiously moved down to featherweight, dreaming of becoming a two-weight division champion, but failed to overcome Aldo’s wall one after another and was frustrated.
On the other hand, Holloway is a taller version of Edgar with slightly lowered grappling skills and higher striking stats. Just like Edgar, he constantly puts pressure on his opponent throughout the match based on his strength and stamina. He diligently steps forward and does not stop pressing until the end gong rings, so it is the opponent who becomes more difficult as time passes.
Holloway is a diligent player like Edgar, but often plays with an edge in size. As mentioned earlier, his physical condition is at the top of the featherweight division. Since such a tall man constantly punches and kicks, the opponent has no choice but to struggle. He constantly presses and hits right hits, but he himself avoids big swings well. He is excellent at attacking and falling into the square, so he is good at drawing out the opponent’s swing.
He likes fighting spirit, so he often responds to slugfests, but he rarely loses through his quick eyes and reaction speed. His grappling defense is also solid, so it’s very difficult to drag him to the ground. In the end, most opponents have no choice but to be dragged around at Holloway pace throughout the game regardless of their base. 메이저놀이터
Even in the process of attacking his face, Holloway constantly targets his opponent’s body. He stabs with a single shot, and he also attacks with a face with a combination punch. The repertoire is also diverse, including punches, middle kicks, and knee kicks. It is evaluated that the pattern of hitting the opponent’s body hard while pressing with his infinite stamina, reducing his stamina and accumulating damage really shows the extreme of efficiency.
His two complete victories over Aldo prove that he has risen to the top of the featherweight division. Still, the era of Holloway did not come. It’s true that he still has a hard time finding an opponent at featherweight, but there’s a big reason why he hasn’t broken a single wall. After winning against Aldo, he suffered four losses.
In the case of Dustin Poirier, it was hopeless to lose 3 times to only one player, even if it was not discussed in that it was a super fight where the difference in weight class affected. None other than current featherweight champion “The Great” Alexander Volkanovski (34, Australia) is the main character who made Holloway the second-in-command.