It’s just a month and a half ago that we saw the unification of the UFC’s featherweight title as Jose Aldo faced Max Holloway in Brooklyn, New York at UFC 208. Or that’s what was supposed to happen, when the UFC offered Holloway the fight immediately following his win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 206. Holloway said yes.
Only an ankle injury suffered in the Pettis fight got in the way (along with some family travel plans). And a bout was supposed to have taken place in February has now been pushed out to June. It’s a chain of events that’s seen Holloway catch some flack, especially in light of his #WheresJoseAldo Twitter hunt for the champion he said was ducking him.
And, even with a bout now scheduled and some time for fans to forget, the whole debacle still seems to rankle the current interim champ, as he explained in a recent interview with Fox Sports.
“The fight is happening June 3 cause Mr. Aldo didn’t want to show up at [UFC] 205 because he was kicking and crying and complaining to the UFC that he wanted to fight the one guy that everybody is trying to chase and everybody knows who that guy is,” Holloway said referencing Conor McGregor. “He was trying to chase that fight and he already had a fight.
“The fight could have happened way before now. He had the opportunity to fight me at [UFC] 206 but do a little research before coming at me. This is what Jose Aldo said and I quote ‘I don’t want to fight no one except for Conor and if I was to fight someone, I would fight Anthony Pettis because I believe Anthony Pettis is an easier fight and he’s a bigger draw than Max Holloway’. That’s what your champion has been saying. I thought your champion was willing to fight whoever, whenever and go out there and put on a show. Old boy didn’t show.”
Holloway also revealed that Dana White apparently hooked him up with a role in the movie Den of Thieves, as he was recovering from his ankle injury and Aldo was campaigning for a lightweight fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. “Then [White] goes around saying I’m the one whose fault why this fight is taking so long. It’s tripping me out. He offered me a movie role. It doesn’t make no sense.”
“I only took the movie because Aldo came out and said he was going to fight for an interim 155-pound title,” Holloway explained. “I’m like I’m not going to wait around for this guy. They weren’t going to give me another fight so they gave me a movie role. I took the movie.
“[Aldo] and his alternative facts, they need to get that straight and we’ll see June 3. We’ll see what happens.”
Holloway also campaigned for his own rematch with Conor McGregor, citing his success in the first match and his feelings that “[McGregor’s] coaches believe I”m at the best at 145. His team believes I’m the best at 145.”
“I’m not trying to defend a loss. A loss is a loss but if you’re going to come and attack me, get your facts straight. Don’t show up to a gun fight with a knife.”
Jose Aldo vs. Max Holloway is currently set for UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 3rd. The event is expected to feature the featherweight title unification bout as the main event, with fights between Anderson Silva & Kelvin Gastelum and Claudia Gadelha & Karolina Kowalkiewicz helping fill out the card.
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