Jose Aldo – A New Threat at 145
The landscape of the WEC’s
featherweight division is a very competitive one, as it is stacked with tremendous
athletes who continually put on excellent fights. It is a division that holds several worthy opponents for
current featherweight champion Mike Brown. Due to the inflation of top tier talent such as Urijah
Faber, Leonard Garcia and former IFL featherweight champion Wagnney Fabiano,
matchmakers have the ability to put together a number of compelling bouts that have
“main event” written all over them. Amidst all the talent in the division, there is yet another fighter
matchmakers can introduce to the featherweight equation, that being Jose
“Junior” Aldo; the man who has been causing a stir in the star-studded division.
Aldo grew up in Alvorada, a
neighborhood centralized in the city of Manaus Brazil. Manaus is the most populous city in the
Amazonas state (in proximity to the Amazon River), which is located in North
Western region of Brazil. Growing
up in South America, futebol (soccer) becomes a major part of one’s life and it
is not uncommon for young males to pursue careers in this sport and become successful,
this was something Aldo had initially planed for. As a natural athlete, Aldo possessed the necessary tools
required to become a great futebol player and eventually played for semi-pro
teams. However as a result of his
energy and emotion, he was often involved in scuffles on the field. Following a number of battles on the green,
Aldo was encouraged to use this energy positively, thus resulting in his
introduction to combat sports.
Originally Aldo was a Capoeira
practitioner and by the age of fifteen, he began studying jiu-jitsu. As a jiu-jitsu player his development
into MMA was a natural transition (as it is for most fighters). After moving to Rio de Janerio, Aldo immersed
himself in his training and focused on becoming a professional fighter. Today he trains at Nova Uniao headed by
Andre Pederneiras and works along notables such as Thales Leites (UFC
Middleweight title challenger), Marlon Sandro (featherweight King of Pancrase)
and the 20-2 Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro. Aldo is surrounded by extremely talented individuals who
continually push him to improve and excel in his fights, something we have seen
come to fruition in his recent bouts.
Prior to entering the WEC, Aldo put
together an impressive record of 10-1. A majority of those wins were acquired in 2005, as he fought six times
that year earning five victories and only one loss. Looking back at some of those earlier fights in 2005, one
can see that his style is a very fan friendly one, since the majority of his contests
have ended via TKO. If you are
unfamiliar with his pre WEC matches, go back to his fight with Anderson
Silverio. The Silverio fight is primarily
a stand up bout, where we see Aldo’s precision striking on display. In addition, the crowd gets behind Aldo
once his opponent is on the ground as they continually chant “Pezão…Pezão” meaning “Stomp,” that’s right, head stomps
and soccer kicks to a grounded opponent are legal in this one! Aldo makes short work of Silverio at
eight minutes in the first frame with a calculated stomp followed by those
“semi-pro” soccer punts to the head. Following this fight, Aldo would record two more TKO victories until
encountering his first defeat at the hands of Luciano Azevedo via rear naked
choke. Despite the loss Aldo had stated
in pervious interviews, that this single defeat helped him become a more
focused fighter which has pushed him to continually train and improve in all
aspects of the game. Aldo has
unquestionably made good on those statements, as he has not lost since the
Azevedo bout. Aldo would go on to
record three decision wins just prior to entering the WEC.
On June 1st 2008, Jose
Aldo made his North American debut in Sacramento, California at WEC 34. The brawling Brazilian took on former
Shooto lightweight champion Alexandre Franca “Pequeno” (Little)
Nogueira. Even though Nogueira had
the edge in experience, he lacked size, reach advantage and was out classed in
the striking department. Once
again, the fight demonstrated Aldo’s incomparable stand up game and we also saw
his knowledgeable takedown defense. Aldo’s first bout in the United States was a success and his performance
proved to American fans that he was (and still is) someone to look out for.
In the following months, MMA fans
would witness Aldo obliterate his next three opponents via TKO, Jonathan
Brookins, Ronaldo Perez and most recently at WEC 39, Chris Mickle. After debuting on Sherdog’s top ten
Featherweight list at number eight, and accumulating four straight wins in the
WEC, the Nova Uniao product has shown that he has the potential to become the
next dominate force in his division. As a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Aldo’s ground game is as lethal
as his stand up. Furthermore it is
interesting to note that this ground specialist prefers to look for the
knockout and in doing so, he shows a high degree of adaptability in his game. His style is one that instantly wins
over fans and his futebol inspired victory celebrations make him a definite
standout.
It goes without saying that the 22
year old Brazilian deserves to be in the title picture. Aldo has proven himself to be a worthy
contender and at this point, he should be fighting the who’s who of the WEC
featherweight division. Regardless
of who he is matched up with, spectators can anticipate an exciting bout. With the Faber vs. Brown sequel
scheduled for WEC 41, it would be wise for the WEC to build Aldo as the next
challenger for the title; as it was once said, “this guy puts asses in seats!” An intriguing match up for Aldo would
be against Leonard Garcia, and if Aldo were to continue his winning ways, it
would certainly cement his positioning for a title shot and the matchmakers
would have to give him his opportunity. With that being said I believe it is inevitable, it’s only a matter of
time before Aldo seizes the featherweight title and begins a dominate reign as
champion.
If you are a fan of Jose Aldo (or
the Nova Uniao training camp) check this out. http://www.kimurawear.com/Jose-Aldo-T-Shirt-p/0144.htm
Jeff Lopes is the founder and
President of KimuraWear, a fight brand that has created a variety of fight gear
and myriad signature series t-shirts, each of which is exclusive to a
particular fighter. As a fan of
Vale Tudo, it’s great to see support for a variety of Brazilian MMA fighters. Check out www.kimurawear.com.
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