Jose Aldo’s move to bantamweight didn’t go as smoothly as he intended last Saturday but it appears that it may have a silver lining.
The veteran fighter, a legend in the featherweight division, was defeated in is first fight at 135-pounds by compatriot Marlon Moraes on the UFC 245 main card — a decision that he vehemently disagrees with — and so to, it appears, does the division’s champion Henry Cejudo, who issued a callout in the Brazilian’s general direction on social media early this week.
Officially, he lost the fight via split decision but Aldo said to MMA Fighting that he “dominated” the 15-minute encounter.
“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.”
When the final bell rang at the conclusion of the third round, Aldo said that he was sure he had won the fight and celebrated in the cage as such.
“We celebrated it as a win as soon as the third round was over,” he 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 (Moraes’ 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 apparently agrees is bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who issued a very bizarre callout to Aldo on social media yesterday, which you can see below.
This is a public service announcement from Triple C to the self proclaim “King of Rio”. @josealdojunior @danawhite @ufc pic.twitter.com/bkrLUcgyC0
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) December 15, 2019
Aldo, it seems, is interested.
“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.”
