Jose Aldo has fought both UFC 329 headliners Conor McGregor and Max Holloway.
Aldo saw his unstoppable UFC featherweight title reign come to an end when he was knocked out by McGregor in just 13 seconds at UFC 194. The UFC Hall of Famer appreciates his heated rivalry with McGregor, and won’t count out his chances when he returns from a five-year long layoff after breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
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McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) runs things back with Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) in a welterweight bout on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). Aldo agrees with oddsmakers having Holloway as a favorite, but says McGregor has the ultimate equalizer.
“For me it’s a very competitive fight,” Aldo said in an interview with Covers.com. “McGregor may be the betting underdog, but honestly, I think he has a better chance of beating Max today than he had of beating Khabib back then. The favorite is Max Holloway, not because he’s vastly superior, but because he’s still active. He’s fighting regularly, coming off strong performances and staying in competition mode. Conor is an unknown quantity. We haven’t seen him fight in a very long time.
“We don’t know where his conditioning, timing or confidence are at. That’s why I put Max one step ahead. That doesn’t mean Conor can’t go in there and knock him out. That can absolutely happen. And it wouldn’t be any disgrace for Max because Conor is still a world-class striker, with experience, power and the technical tools to win any fight. So I have Max slightly ahead, but I’m a long way from saying Conor has no chance. The biggest question right now is simply which version of McGregor is going to show up on fight night.”
Aldo fought Holloway in back-to-back UFC featherweight title fights in 2017, where he was stopped twice by TKO. “The King of Rio” says it’s hard to compare his losses to Holloway and McGregor.
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“Against Conor, I didn’t get much time in there,” Aldo said. “The fight ended far too quickly. I didn’t really get the chance to feel everything he brings to the table. With Max, though, I spent much more time inside the octagon with him. He’s an extremely intelligent fighter, with very refined boxing, great fight IQ and an excellent ability to absorb shots. Today he’s not exactly the same fighter he was years ago because he’s been through a lot of wars during his career. But he’s still an exceptional fighter.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jose Aldo won’t rule out Conor McGregor’s chances of knocking out Max Holloway
