Who wins the Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo fight and why?
JOSHUA GARCIA, MMATorch Contributor
Max Holloway will prove again that he is the best fighter at featherweight. He will finish Aldo in the 3rd round. Aldo is getting up in mileage and the wars he has had have caught up with him. Holloway will extend his winning streak and will possibly put a halt to Aldo’s career at featherweight.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATorch Columnist
There’s no reason to believe that anything will be different about this fight from their previous one. Holloway pretty well controlled Aldo before finishing him, and nothing’s changed. I don’t want to count out Aldo and say he has no chance, he’s one of the greatest to ever lace them up, but we just saw this fight. Holloway seems to be getting better every time he fights, and he already beat Aldo not that long ago. What’s different? What’s changed? Aldo has a chance to add another chapter to his legacy, but I just can’t see it. Aldo is really strong and quick and tough, but he’s fighting a guy who’s only getting better and better. I also think Holloway is motivated to send a message to the rest of the division that this is his time. If he beats Aldo again, if he finishes him again, he sends a big message to everyone that he’s going to dominate for years to come. That’s a lot of motivation.
DAVE KOULA, MMATorch Contributor
I think we see a healthy and happy Jose Aldo in this fight, that fights smart, mixes in those kicks we all miss, and puts on a hell of a show that we’ll all be proud of him for… but falls short against a younger, better opponent. This is Max’s time and I don’t see anyone from the old guard taking him out. I’ll take Max by decision in a tough, but clear victory. Frankie is still the more interesting fight and I hope we get it next.
DYLAN BOWKER, MMATorch Contributor
I think many see Max steamrolling Aldo in this fight but I don’t know that it’s that simple. Aldo had more success in their first fight than many give him credit for. There’s also the interesting element of Aldo taking on a relatively short notice fight. Historically, that’s not something he was ever keen on doing at all. To me this is indicative of some level of confidence and skill refinement that maybe Jose felt wasn’t there in his first tilt with Holloway.
Also, for the last eight years of his fighting career Jose Aldo has only been in title fights. This is the only level of competition that he has known for almost a decade. If Jose loses in similar fashion to their first fight, I could see Max retiring Scarface.
Max has shown a lot of skill and improvement in his UFC tenure whilst having the youth factor on his side. Max has a diverse, rangy style and he has tremendous octagon experience despite still having the youth factor on his side. For the sake of making a pick, I’ll say Max by decision but I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Scarface became a three time UFC champion.
JOHN HARRIS, MMATorch Contributor
I am going with Max Holloway by decision. This was scheduled to be Frankie Edgar facing Holloway but Aldo is now stepping in after Edgar withdrew due to injury. I am very torn on this fight but I am sticking with Holloway as I am worried about the lack of time for Aldo to build a new game plan for Holloway. Aldo was scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas later this month so conditioning should be fine but Holloway is a different animal compared to Lamas. It will be interesting to see if Aldo throws his trademark leg kicks more in this fight compared to his first encounter with Holloway. I am also interested to see if Aldo tries to get this fight to the ground if the aggressive striking of Holloway begins to overwhelm.
Holloway will want to be aggressive and frustrate Aldo like he did in the fight that won him the title. I do not see Aldo being able to take down Holloway very often as Holloway has 82.4% take down defense. He will have to to consistently land the leg kicks if the wants to win this one. This will be a closer fight than their first one but I think Holloway is able to do enough damage to win over the judges.
SEAN COVINGTON, MMATorch Contributor
This one is actually a toss-up for me. Jose Aldo is a legend and has plenty good fights left in him but are they championship level? Max Holloway lost to Conor McGregor which puts him in the doghouse with me. He should not have lost to McGregor and he has the nerve to want a rematch. Max Holloway is a lot of talk, not all talk but certainly an obscene amount of it and if you’re going to talk shit you’ve gotta beat the bigger shit talker when you face him. I think if it goes the distance Aldo will destroy Holloway however, it probably won’t go the distance. Max Holloway in a stunning first round knockout to send Aldo on the Long Walk like in Judge Dredd.
RAFFAEL IGLESIAS, MMATorch Contributor
The Holloway-Aldo fight is a fascinating fight that I’m very much looking forward to. There are so many variables and things to consider when it comes to this fight.
Aldo is one of the all-time greats and pound for pound best fighters possibly ever. Holloway is one of the best young fighters to come along in the UFC ever. Aldo’s camp has stated that he was suffering a leg injury in the first fight, which would account for the lack of patented leg kicks that he usually throws. Aldo would be best served to throw some of those vicious kicks in this fight.
Last time out Jose Aldo attempted to exclusively box against the much taller fighter. Aldo historically attempts takedowns when it comes to going up against bigger fighters. We didn’t see any of that in the last fight either. Holloway’s ability to time takedown attempts into guillotine chokes may have been a deterrent for Aldo.
My belief is that Holloway’s unorthodox stand up and ability to switch stances threw off Aldo’s timing in the last fight. If Aldo mixes it up more in this fight and brings a better all-around game, I think he takes this fight. Jose had him hurt several times in the first fight but failed to finish him off. Jose Aldo almost won the first fight with his boxing alone.
Aldo has also done very well in rematches in the past. I think he takes this one in the third round via TKO.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS ROUNDTABLE: Who wins the Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou fight and why?
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