Jose Aldo gave MMA Fighting a long, profane interview explaining that, if he ran the UFC, Movsar Evloev would never get a title shot. That would be a spicy take any week. It lands four days before Evloev headlines UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi against Alexander Volkanovski on Saturday, Oct. 24, which makes it spicier.
The facts Aldo is reacting to are simple. Evloev is 10-0 in the Octagon, and all 10 of those wins went to the scorecards, most recently a majority decision over Lerone Murphy in March. Aldo called him a guy who “doesn’t sell,” who “puts on boring fights,” and who “just stays inactive.” Then came the plan. Freeze him out, wait for the first loss, then release him. Aldo said he wants to “sell out my arena.”
I respect Aldo more than almost anyone who ever made 145. I think he’s wrong here, and his own examples show why.
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Read the actual plan
Look at the fine print. Aldo didn’t say cut him today. He said Evloev “could beat everybody” and he’d still keep him out of the title picture until he lost. Think about what that looks like in practice. You’d have an undefeated fighter at the top of the rankings (Aldo believes he’s No. 1) and a belt getting passed around among people he has beaten or would beat. Every title fight in that division would carry an asterisk with Evloev’s name on it. Rankings are what make a belt mean something, and a promotion that ignores the guy who keeps winning tells everyone else on the roster that winning is optional.
Aldo also complained that the featherweight division “has been stagnant” and said Diego got two opportunities because of it. Fair enough. But the cure for a stagnant division is letting the contender who has won 10 straight in the UFC take his shot. Blocking him is how you keep it stagnant.
His examples argue against him
Aldo’s preferred alternatives were Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway, Jean Silva, Alex Pereira and Jon Jones. On Pereira he has a point about the appeal: almost 35 when he joined, champion in one division and then another, a guy Aldo compared to Mike Tyson. On Jones, though, Aldo described someone “who has every skill in the game.” Every skill includes the grappling ones. You can’t hold up the complete fighter as your gold standard and then disqualify somebody for being very good at the wrestling half of the sport.
Then there’s Silva, who Aldo said “could lose three fights” and keep his spot because he comes forward. I like watching Jean Silva. Building a roster on that principle means a three-fight losing streak keeps your job while a 10-fight winning streak costs it. That’s a sideshow with a ranking chart stapled to it.
The grappling is the fight
Aldo reached for “laying and praying,” a complaint I’ve heard for years, usually from people who stop watching once the fight hits the mat. Wrestling heavy against featherweight killers means winning hand fights, timing entries off the other guy’s strikes, chaining a second attempt when the first one gets stuffed, and then holding position against men who scramble for a living. Doing that 10 times in the UFC without a loss is a skill set, and a hard one to build. Evloev’s own explanation for why he’s still under contract was “good fans who know MMA.” Smug, sure. Also accurate.
The zero finishes is a real knock, and I won’t pretend otherwise. A majority decision over Murphy means one judge scored the fight even, which tells you how thin the margins have gotten. If Evloev wants to be a draw, the finishes have to show up eventually. Still, saying he isn’t a draw yet is a long way from saying the UFC should cut him.
The doping sideshow
Some of Aldo’s heat clearly traces back to Evloev telling MMAjunkie that Aldo, Anderson Silva and Anthony Pettis didn’t stay “on the same level after doping tests.” That was a cheap shot at men who held belts for years. Aldo’s best moment in the interview was his answer about the McGregor fight, saying he was tested three times a day and still lost “because the guy landed a good shot on me.” His swipe at Russians and WADA was his worst moment. Neither one has anything to do with whether a 10-0 fighter deserves a title fight.
Aldo said he’s rooting for Volkanovski on Saturday, even if that means Volk surpasses his record for most title defenses in UFC featherweight history. Gracious of him. My pick goes the other way: Evloev by decision, because that’s what he does, and then Aldo can explain why the UFC should cut its featherweight champion.
