Understandable concern raised ahead of Jose Aldo rematch

In a way, the Max Holloway beating was much tougher on Jose Aldo than the Conor McGregor annihilation.

Out of those two matches, Jose Aldo would definitely prefer a chance at redemption against McGregor. 'The Notorious' tormented him during the world tour then humiliated by knocking him out before the fight even had a chance to get going. Holloway, on the other hand, stole Aldo's soul. Aldo had plenty of opportunities to give his best showing against 'Blessed' and although he won the first round handily, it simply wasn't enough. The Hawaiian started dominating the firefight on the feet, beat him down to the ground, imprisoned him in mount and laid down a world of hurt from his back until the referee had no option but to put him out of his misery. There could be zero complaints about the stoppage. There was no doubt about the winner. It was a competitive scrap until it wasn't. Yet, rather than sit out to lick his wounds, Aldo's getting right back it by fighting top contender Ricardo Lamas in December.

gif via UFC 212: The Thrill and the Agony

UFC Winnipeg will mark the first time Aldo has had a non-title fight in the promotion. He will be fighting on free television and he isn't even the headliner, which is a somewhat understated way to return after dominating the division for so long. Former UFC fighter Kenny Florian wonders if we'll be seeing a different Aldo in Canada, as he explained on The Anik & Florian Podcast. Especially after seeing how he fared against Holloway.

“It seemed like maybe he was a little bit bored or didn’t want to work as hard as he normally does during the (Holloway) fight. He didn’t have that same kind of pep in his step and Holloway just took it to him, kept pressuring him backwards and Holloway just broke him mentally and then took him out with skill. It was a beautiful thing to watch.” “For Aldo, this is an interesting fight to see, are you still motivated to fight? Are you still out there to win and put out your best performance? Especially against a guy he already beat, we’re gonna find out pretty quickly what Jose Aldo is all about and if he truly wants to get back to the top of this division.”

Aldo will only have three rounds to work in this fight, so if he wants to make a statement, he will need to do it pretty quickly.