Jose Aldo vows to ‘come back much stronger’ after TKO loss to Petr Yan at UFC 251

Jose Aldo vows to ‘come back much stronger’ after TKO loss to Petr Yan at UFC 251

Jose Aldo is in uncharted territory in his career after losing to Petr Yan at UFC 251, but he has no intention of giving up.

For the first time in his decorated run as a professional fighter, Aldo (28-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) is on a three-fight skid following his fifth-round TKO loss to Yan (15-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) on Saturday’s card, which took place at Flash Forum at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

It was an important fight for Aldo. If he won, he would’ve become UFC bantamweight champion. As the former longtime featherweight titleholder, it would’ve made him just the eighth fighter in company history to hold belts in two divisions. It went the other way, though, as Yan’s offense proved too much and he got the late finish.

After taking a night to digest the outcome, Aldo released a statement on social media. He made it clear that this is not the end for him, and he hopes he can use this loss as an opportunity to grow (via Instagram):

View this post on Instagram

Hoje acordei pensando no que dizer a todos, e o que tenho a falar é que a derrota faz parte do esporte, faz parte da minha vida e só não perde aquele que não luta. ⠀ Eu dei o meu máximo nessa luta, dei o máximo e o melhor nos treinos, dei o meu máximo na minha alimentação, mesmo em tempos de pandemia eu batalhei pelo o que eu queria, mas infelizmente não deu. ⠀ Ninguém mais do que eu queria muito esse cinturão, queria muito fazer história mas o meu adversário se saiu melhor ontem e ele tem os seus méritos. ⠀ Mas as pessoas tendem a carregar a ideia de um mundo perfeito e esquecem que perder uma batalha não te torna capaz de humilhar e muito menos descartar o outro. ⠀ Empatia é se colocar sempre no lugar do outro. Eu voltarei muito mais forte do que já sou. ⠀ A minha gratidão fica para minha equipe Nova União, aos meus amigos, fãs e minha família a quem dedico o meu melhor todos os dias. ⠀ ⠀ Força e honra sempre! ⠀ Deus é conosco buda mendes

A post shared by José Aldo Junior (@josealdojunioroficial) on Jul 12, 2020 at 10:35am PDT

Today I woke up thinking about what to say to everyone, and what I have to say is that defeat is part of the sport, it is part of my life and only one who does not fight does not lose. ⠀

I did my best in this fight, I did my best and best in training, I did my best in my diet, even in times of pandemic I fought for what I wanted, but unfortunately it didn’t.

Nobody more than I really wanted that belt, I really wanted to make history but my opponent did better yesterday and he has his merits. ⠀
But people tend to carry the idea of ​​a perfect world and forget that losing a battle does not make you capable of humiliating, let alone discarding the other.

Empathy is always putting yourself in the other’s shoes. I will come back much stronger than I already am.
⠀
My gratitude goes out to my Nova União team, my friends, fans and my family to whom I dedicate my best every day. ⠀
⠀
Strength and honor always! ⠀

God is with us

It seems Aldo, 33, has designs on fighting his way back to the top. It won’t be an easy task, especially because many believed he didn’t deserve the chance to be fighting for the 135-pound title, anyway.

Aldo was granted the title shot following a split decision loss to Marlon Moraes in his divisional debut. UFC president Dana White saw no controversy in inserting Aldo into the position despite no official wins in the weight, and he said after that Aldo’s performance, even in defeat, proved he belonged there.