To be honest, this did not surprise us one bit.
Finally!
The UFC’s worst kept secret has finally been confirmed.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will meet interim title holder Max Holloway at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro.
See you soon Brazil pic.twitter.com/pnREPTwTFM
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) February 12, 2017
Fans will be eagerly anticipating this fight as it will finally reveal who is the undisputed featherweight champion.
Holloway, of course, has been on an incredible 10-fight winning streak since his loss to Conor McGregor at UFC Fight Night 26 back in 2013, his most recent victory coming at UFC 206 over Anthony Pettis.
For Aldo, he has only fought once since his loss to McGregor, a five round majority decision victory against Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July of last year.
Although fans will be excited by this very interesting match-up, there was a sense of scepticism surrounding Aldo, mostly because the Brazilian has a bit of a history of backing out of prearranged fights through injury.
Here is a list to refresh your memory…
- Josh Grispi – November 2010 – Neck Injury
- Erik Koch – July 2012 – Undisclosed Injury
- Frankie Edgar – February 2013 – Foot Injury
- Chad Mendes – August 2014 – Undisclosed Injury*
- Conor McGregor – July 2015 – Rib Injury
So yes, Aldo has a bit of history in this regard and the social media universe were quick to point this out after the announcement for UFC 212.
https://twitter.com/jjfallon24/status/830699650755784705
😂 come april it'll be weres waldo again. Jose = Worst champ in the ufc bring it home max n put a fighting champ on top of f/w
— John McFadyen (@JohnMcFadyen12) February 12, 2017
Calling it! Aldo pulls out
— Justin Fong (@JFong10) February 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/Skrzm_/status/830715985036390401
The event is just under four months away so we are likely to see plenty more of this type of speculation until we (hopefully) see the two face each other in the octagon.
*Aldo did fight Mendes two months later at UFC 179 in October 2014
