UFC 212: Jose Aldo and Max Holloway meet in clash of the titans as they bid to step out of Conor McGregor's shadow

UFC welterweight and commentator Dan Hardy looks ahead to this weekend’s event in Rio de Janeiro, with the UFC featherweight title on the line

Aldo is healthy and ready to prove to Holloway that he is the one true champion (Getty)

The UFC featherweight class is divided. Reigning champion, Jose Aldo, seized the interim title in a bout with Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, when Conor McGregor was campaigning north of the division.

Upon McGregor winning the lightweight title in November 2016 he abdicated the featherweight throne and Aldo was made full champion. Whilst dealing with an injury the interim title was wrapped around Max Holloway’s waist a month later when he ran through Anthony Pettis in impressive fashion.

Now Aldo is healthy and ready to prove to Holloway that he is the one true champion and the belt that Max has is merely a token of his number one status and will be worthless after this weekend.

Aldo is one of those very rare ‘special’ athletes. His timing is almost supernatural, giving him the ability to read and react faster than almost anyone. This is what has kept him on top of the division for so long and it wasn’t until he met Conor McGregor that he faced someone with comparable attributes.

McGregor is another of those ‘special’ athletes that perhaps hits a little harder and was a beat faster on that night. Even with that recent loss on his record, Aldo is still one of the greatest combat athletes on the planet. As well as being strong, fast and big for the featherweight division, he is technically impeccable in every range.

He uses his amazing timing and speed to slip and weave his opponent’s attack and then punishes them with vicious leg kicks and punches. With over 90 per cent of takedown attempts defended throughout his UFC career, Aldo is able to dictate where the fight takes place.

If someone is able to ground him momentarily then they also have to contend with a seasoned black belt with a lot of experience against the best grapplers in the sport. Over half of his 26 wins come from strikes and his understanding of the kickboxing range allows him to set opponents up, opening targets for him to exploit with pinpoint accurate strikes.


 Aldo's timing is almost supernatural 
 (Getty)

Holloway is equally as talented but a little more unorthodox. His seamless stance-switching attack makes his combination striking unpredictable and helps him transfer more power into everything he throws.

It’s MMA striking with a creative, modern twist. Aldo is more traditional in his approach so it will be interesting to see how these contrasting styles interact. We have seen Aldo attack aggressively but for the most part he is quite measured and clinical. Holloway is a little more reckless but he doesn’t lose his technical efficiency. Even in wild shootouts like the last 10 seconds of the Lamas fight at UFC 199, you will still see him slip and roll out of the firing line whilst throwing long, stinging punches in return.

The vulnerability I see here when comparing Holloway’s approach with Aldo’s favoured weapons is that this aggressive, push-forward style means that he is heavy on the lead leg: a target that we have seen Aldo eat up in past outings.

Urijah Faber, and more recently Ricardo Lamas, have been beaten severely and struggled to stay mobile after Aldo used their legs as a kick bag. The joker card here though may be the ever-improving martial arts technique and conditioning of Max Holloway. Although he has only fought over five rounds on one occasion - in his third professional fight back in 2011 - I can’t help but feel like he will be the one pushing the pace in the championship rounds. If he makes it there.


 Holloway is more unorthodox than Aldo 
 (Getty)

We have seen Aldo drop off, even take a round off sometimes to conserve energy. Making this into a scrappy, fast-paced MMA fight will test both men’s cardio and that may be something that Holloway is more confident in than Aldo.

With all of the pent-up energy that Holloway is walking around with, it’s hard for me to see them having a slow start to feel each other out. Aldo might be immediately under fire as Holloway comes to take what he believes is his. If he isn’t respectful of Aldo’s experience and knowledge of the martial arts, then he could give the reigning champion the opening he needs to defend his throne. It will be the recklessness and enthusiasm of youth versus the wisdom and experience of the old lion.

In the co-main event we have the top two contenders in the women’s strawweight division as Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz face off for a second attempt at Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s crown.


 Claudia Gadelha takes on Karolina Kowalkiewicz 
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Evenly-matched but with opposing styles, this will be a very competitive fight between a strong grappler in Gadelha and a talented kickboxer in Kowalkiewicz. Both fell short in their respective title attempts but gave good accounts of themselves. I’m sure both feel like they can add a little to their game and will do better in a rerun but to get that shot they will have to go through each other.

Watch UFC 212: Aldo vs. Holloway live on BT Sport 2 from 1am BST on the morning of Sunday 4th June, or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 11:30pm BST on Saturday.