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UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway defends his title belt against the man he won it from. Blessed is set to face Jose Aldo a second time this year at the main event UFC 218 at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan on December 2nd, 2017.
Second Chance
Aldo gets a second chance at beating Holloway after Frankie Edgar withdrew from the event with an injury. It can be recalled that Aldo lost the UFC featherweight belt to Holloway via third round TKO and he has since talked about pursuing a career in boxing after finishing his UFC contract.
Scarface was scheduled to fight Ricardo Lamas on December 16th but he will now have to cut his camp short by two weeks to face Holloway. Aldo has never lost a rematch in his entire MMA career but he may be facing an even tougher Max Holloway this time around.
Holloway’s remarkable winning run has put him on top of the heap. Since losing to Conor McGregor in 2013, Holloway has been a machine piling up win after win in impressive fashion. He is without a doubt the most exciting featherweight to watch and perhaps the most dangerous man in the business.
Not The Same Aldo
The champion Holloway is favored at – 325 while former champion Aldo is the underdog at +265. This is the second fight between these combatants and it’s hard to forget that Holloway knocked out Aldo during their first encounter at UFC 212.
Aldo is still probably the greatest featherweight champion of all-time but the times have changed. After his long reign was ended by Conor McGregor at UFC 194, Aldo has not been the same fighter. Sure, he beat Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 but he didn’t look like the Jose Aldo we used to know. Sure enough, when he defended the belt against Holloway last June, Holloway dispatched him like a has-been fighter.
Aldo claims he wasn’t motivated enough for that fight but what makes him think he’s motivated for this one? Holloway has risen from the ranks and has now won a remarkable 11 consecutive fights. Not only does he have the momentum on his side, but he also has the tools to beat Aldo and he’s going to show that on fight night.
More Firepower
Holloway has a four-inch height advantage and he lands at least two significant strikes per minute than Aldo. Aldo’s a low risk counter punching genius but Holloway is just going to swarm him with his pressure style. As in their first bout, he’s not going to keep pace with the younger, faster and more accurate striker.
Aldo’s got superb takedown defense but Holloway isn’t going to take this fight to the ground. He’s going to fight fire with fire and the bad thing for Aldo is that Blessed has more firepower. At this stage of their careers, it Holloway who’s younger by six years. Aldo is still good but he’s looked old recently. Expect Holloway to come out firing and be more aggressive again. There may be no knockouts here but Max Holloway is going to win this fight convincingly, via unanimous decision.
