The MMA world is still debating who won Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315.
On Saturday night, Jose Aldo made the walk to the Octagon for what would be his final MMA fight. The former two-time UFC Featherweight Champion has retired once before, seemingly hanging up the gloves for good after a bloody loss to Aiemann Zahabi.
However, the unanimous decision result for Zahabi didn’t come without controversy as many fans believed Aldo had done enough to win rounds 1 and 2 and maybe even 3.
A teammate of Georges St-Pierre, Zahabi was nearly knocked out twice in the final round with a knee and then a follow-up soccer kick to send him to the canvas. Zahabi ran away from Aldo with his opponent badly fatigued for the rest of the round.
Zahabi nearly got the finish himself after a desperation shot from Aldo, cutting the hall of famer with elbows on the ground before the final bell sounded.
While others argue Aldo won the fight with the more damaging shots in round 3, a legendary MMA referee believes Zahabi did just enough to earn the decision victory with his late rally at UFC 315.
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‘Big’ John McCarthy says Jose Aldo’s body language swayed round for Aiemann Zahabi
After nearly finishing Zahabi on the feet with his knees and kicks, Aldo looked around for the clock, realizing there was still 3 minutes left to go in the final round—a visible tell that his cardio was depleted.
Zahabi defended a takedown from Aldo and used it to gain 2:30 of top control time. From here, Zahabi unloaded elbows and bloodied Aldo, who held onto his gloves illegally, trying to survive.
It wasn’t a great look for Aldo, especially after a strong start. Veteran UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy says Zahabi’s success on the ground ultimately outweighed what Aldo was able to do on the feet.
“It’s not only the shots themselves. It’s the way that Aldo is looking,” McCarthy said on the Weighing In Podcast.
“When you’re looking at it, you’re also looking to see, ‘Is this damage causing a person to lose confidence, to lose the ability to compete, to lose their spirit?’
“And if you look at that last round, all of those were there. Every one of them.”
McCarthy’s co-host, former UFC fighter Josh Thomson disagreed.
“He was tired taking a small little elbow here and there,” Thomson said of Aldo.
“You let the blood influence your decision, John…”
McCarthy responded: “I’m not letting blood influence anything. If that fight had to go on longer, what would happen?”
Ex-UFC star Josh Thomson thinks Jose Aldo got robbed by ‘biased’ judges at UFC 315
Following a back-and-forth third round, all three judges in Montreal scored the fight 29-28 for the hometown hero Aiemann Zahabi.
The first two rounds between Zahabi and Aldo were pretty competitive with Aldo outlanding Zahabi in round 1 and Zahabi getting one more punch than Aldo in round 2.
On a card that saw a controversial decision between Modestas Bukauskas and Ion Cutelaba, former contender Josh Thomson believes Aldo was done dirty by the judges.
“The judges are just f—— biased. That’s why,” Thomson said of Aldo’s decision loss.
“He’s from [Montreal] Canada,” Thomson said of Zahabi.
“They’re in Canada. Canada can’t even buy a win these days.
“They’re doing whatever they can [like] ‘Let me steal one of these…'”