Jose Aldo Claims He Dominated ‘Scared’ Marlon Moraes, Accepts Cejudo Challenge
Over the weekend, perhaps, the most controversial outcome of the UFC 245 pay-per-view (PPV) card was the bantamweight bout between Jose Aldo and Marlon Moraes.
After three rounds of fighting, many thought Aldo, the former king of the UFC’s featherweight division, did enough to earn the judges’ nod. However, Moraes was instead declared the winner. Now, speaking to MMA Fighting, Aldo has voiced his frustrations with the decision.
Aldo believes he “dominated” his fellow countryman, claiming he nearly knocked him out with two different combos.
“He had some good 30 seconds in the beginning of the first round, a great start, and after that I dominated him,” Aldo said. “I almost knocked him out with two combos, he got dizzy and closed the distance, I lost balance and ended up on bottom on the ground, but he only had 10 seconds left and did nothing. Everybody thinks he won the first round, but I can’t see that.
“Rounds two and three were clear for me. I was the only one landing in the second, and walked forward the entire time in the third, landing jabs and answering everything he tried to do. I don’t know how I lost this fight. I don’t know how anyone saw him winning. I think I won all rounds. I respect Marlon, but I can’t see this result.”
Aldo put a lot of hard work into his training camp to successfully get down to 135 pounds. Receiving what he believed to be a robbery after all that work is extremely frustrating, especially when Aldo believes Moraes fought “scared.”
“We celebrated it as a win as soon as the third round was over,” Aldo said. “It’s so frustrating. You go on a diet, you do everything you have to do and this happens. You think about giving up, you think a million things.
“I knew I would win before it was over. When someone yelled there was a minute left I thought, ‘I won.’ (Moraes) has his history, but he ran from the fight. I could hear Anderson (Franca, Moraes’ muay thai coach) asking him to throw combinations, kicks, punches, to do something, and he did nothing. He just tried to throw something to keep me away from him, you know?
“He was scared, his eyes were different. The guy didn’t want to fight. Fans were booing and I was putting pressure the entire time. I don’t know how they came up with that result. I’m the most honest guy in the world. If I think I lost, like the (Alexander) Volkanovski fight, I’ll say I lost. But I don’t think I lost this fight.”
One man who certainly thinks Aldo won the fight is bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo. He took to Twitter to issue out a hilarious callout of Aldo, who he challenged to a title showdown in Brazil. The matchup is definitely intriguing to Aldo, who tells Cejudo to sign the contract.
“If it’s in March or May, it doesn’t matter to me,” Aldo said. “I just want him to sign the contract so we can fight. I’ll start my diet and do whatever it takes.”
What do you think about Aldo claiming he “dominated Moraes, and wanting to fight Cejudo next?
