Kenny Florian Questions Jose Aldo’s Motivation After Max Holloway Loss
Fighters handle losses in different ways. Some come back better than ever as they learned from a loss or they come back with doubts.
A UFC commentator is questioning former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo who has now lost two of his last three bouts. Aldo had an unprecedented run of dominance that saw him remain undefeated for a decade and defend the title nine times. Some people are questioning if he is done or if his heart not in it anymore.
Aldo does have his next fight lined up as he will have a rematch with Ricardo Lamas at UFC Winnipeg on December 16. If you recall, Aldo won their first fight by unanimous decision.
This will also mark the first time that Aldo has fought on free TV since 2010 and his first three-round fight since 2009. He is coming off a loss to Max Holloway, and now, Kenny Florian is wondering what Aldo will look like in the upcoming fight.
Florian responded to a question from Jon Anik about “what version of Aldo” they would see at UFC Winnipeg during the most recent edition of The Anik & Florian Podcast.
“That’s the big question for me because although he was winning the majority of that fight against Max Holloway, early on especially, as the fight went on it seemed like it was the Jose Aldo that kind of loses interest in the fight,” Florian said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “It seemed like maybe he was a little bit bored or didn’t want to work as hard as he normally does during the fight. He didn’t have that same kind of pep in his step and Holloway just took it to him, kept pressuring him backwards and Holloway just broke him mentally and then took him out with skill. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”
Holloway stopped Aldo in the third with a barrage of strikes. This marked Aldo’s third career loss and only his second in the UFC, the other being his embarrassing 13 second knockout to UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
It should be noted that Aldo rebounded from that loss by beating Frankie Edgar in one of the best performances of his career. However, Florian says that this one is a different animal and the way Aldo looks against Lamas will inform fans if Aldo’s best days are behind him or not.
“For Aldo, this is an interesting fight to see, are you still motivated to fight? Are you still out there to win and put out your best performance? Especially against a guy he already beat, we’re gonna find out pretty quickly what Jose Aldo is all about and if he truly wants to get back to the top of this division.”
