The UFC gets questioned a lot about various elements of their organisation but rarely do the credibility of its fights come under scrutiny.
While certain MMA promotions in the past have been accused of paying fighters to throw bouts, with some fighters admitting outright that they had been paid off in organisations such as PRIDE, the UFC has never really faced those accusations.
Which is why it was so surprising when a number of online conspiracy theories surfaced in the hours following Conor McGregor’s TKO of Chad Mendes earlier this month.
The main point behind those theories was the fact that the fight was stopped with just three seconds to go in the second round when Mendes didn’t look close to unconscious.
Even MMA legend Wanderlei Silva jumped aboard the bandwagon and released a video suggesting that the interim featherweight title bout was not all it seemed, accusations for which he must now be regretting since the UFC have started legal proceedings against him.
Fake fights !! We will gonna be wwe, this is finish the line , I am so sad!
— Wanderlei Silva (@wandfc) July 13, 2015
But Jose Aldo does not echo the beliefs of his fellow Brazilian as he addressed the “fixed” rumours for the first time tonight during a Q & A in Rio de Janeiro.
“He (Chad Mendes) didn’t have enough time to be prepared for the fight. Only two weeks of camp is very difficult… I think he only lost because he was tired and he knew that he had no more strength.
“Since I’ve started in this sport, I’ve never seen anything about fixed fights or anything like that. That doesn’t exist in the UFC.”
Irish fight fans may not like the UFC featherweight champion but you have to admire the fact that he’s at least a rational man.
