Jose Aldo Doesn’t Care What Dana White Thinks
Longtime UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has won all six of his fights in the Octagon dating back to his debut win over Mar Hominick at UFC 129 in April 2011.
He’s looked largely unstoppable in the process; never really being in any serious trouble in any of his title fights. But he hasn’t exactly harnessed the thunderous all-out knockout ability that he shad in his WEC days.
His only UFC highlight reel finish was an incredible spinning knee knockout of Chad Mendes at UFC 142. The rest of his wins have been decisions save for his UFC 163 TKO of Chan Sung Jung after “The Korean Zombie” badly injured his shoulder in the fourth round.
It’s those decisions that have earned Aldo criticism from UFC President Dana White, who berated Aldo for simply coasting to decision wins after fading towards the end of his victories over Frankie Edgar at UFC 156 and Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169. Aldo noticeably dialed down his offensive attack late in those fights, showing none of the trademark aggression that he became famous for.
Aldo has admitted that he has fought a bit safer in order to hold onto the belt, and he acknowledges White’s criticism. However, heading his UFC 179 main event rematch with Mendes, he isn’t going to let it get to him. According to Aldo, who spoke up a recent UFC 179 media event, White’s words are just him being a businessman (via MMA Fighting):
“I don’t care what he says. He’s a businessman, he wants to promote his shows. He wants us to go in there and do our best without thinking about the consequences. Whatever he says, I don’t care. I care about what Andre (Pederneiras) tells me, what we have to train and do. That’s what I focus on.”
An interesting point of view from Aldo, who apparently doesn’t pay much attention to what his polarizing employer thinks. But with fans starting to back off Aldo as a true top-level draw, perhaps he should start to care a little bit more. There’s no doubt that he has the talent to be perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but if he holds back and doesn’t heed the warning signs before him, he’s going to miss out on a highly marketable segment of his career.
The surgically precise striker is only focused on what he can control, and that’s getting better as a fighter. He believes he’s the best, but knows he can’t decide what the media thinks. All Aldo cares about is staying champion:
“I’m still evolving. I still have much to do to get better. That’s what I focus on,” he said. If I’m the No. 1 or not, I leave that to the media and the fans. To me, I’ll always be the best. I feel I’m the best technically speaking, but I never think I’m the best and I’m unbeatable. I do everything I can to stay champion.”
That’s a winning mindset, and he appears to still be grounded with the attitude that he could be beaten at any given time. He’s probably adapted to that philosophy even more after he witnessed good friend and teammate Renan Barao lose his belt to TJ Dillashaw at May’s UFC 173.
Aldo has a firm grip on the belt, and it appears he’s changed his fighting style to reflect that. Will he continue to fall short of his massive potential by playing it safe in the Octagon, and will elite featherweights eventually capitalize on this tendency?
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports
