Jose Aldo recently spoke to the media in Brazil, and one of the topics he tackled was Ronda Rousey’s knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193. A clip has gone out earlier in the week with the featherweight champion stating that if he was in her shoes, he’d stick to making movies and wouldn’t return to fighting anymore.
The full media scrum has since been released, which you can watch above.
“Ah, I think it’s too hard. I think it’s too hard for her to even come back. I think it’s really hard for her to return to fighting,” Aldo said. “Her career has taken a different direction. If I’m making a lot of money doing movies or something else, I’d go that direction too.
“Am I going to mess my face up getting punched in the face? You’re crazy. In my opinion, I don’t think (she returns to the UFC),” Aldo said. “If she comes back, of course she can (win the title). She was always a fighter, but if I were her, I wouldn’t come back.”
“I see this as Gina (Carano)’s situation,” Aldo said about Rousey’s legacy. “Gina was a great fighter and went her way to become an actress after she lost to Cyborg. And she’s getting more attention than if she was still fighting. No diet, not getting punched in the face, nothing.”
“I think the legacy Ronda leaves behind is that she changed women’s MMA. She put it where no one ever imagined, where even Dana White said it would never be, and it is now. That’s her legacy. She has done a lot for women’s sport.”
A fighter’s life is obviously tough, and many would choose making more money in other avenues instead of the daily grind of training and competing. Brendan Schaub took this route recently, and Josh Barnett is considering a bit of a sabbatical for minor movie roles as well.
It’s a tough reality in the sport right now, and while Jose took a practical approach in answering a question, naysayers will likely hear this and relate it to the many times Conor mentioned that Aldo already has one foot out the door.
Watch the entire media scrum above where Aldo also spoke about women’s MMA in general, his upcoming title unification against McGregor, and confirms that he does use the rib protection that Fertitta bought for him.
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