When Mario Bautista returns to motion at UFC 316, he’ll be eight months faraway from his win over Jose Aldo and he’s greater than able to put all of the drama surrounding that battle behind him.
In what turned out to be a grueling back-and-forth affair, Bautista gutted out a split-decision win however there was quick blowback that he didn’t deserve the nod and he acquired loads of offended reactions about his sport plan used to negate a lot of Aldo’s finest weapons. What ought to have been a celebration for the most important win of his profession was Bautista defending his efficiency, and the entire ugly mess acquired drummed up once more when Aldo returned for his current battle towards Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315.
The entire ordeal was annoying, however Bautista acknowledged it had much more to do with Aldo being one of the fashionable and well-liked fighters in historical past and much much less to do with him.
“Everybody loves Jose Aldo and everybody needs to see the previous Jose Aldo,” Bautista informed MMA Combating. “The highlights, all of the issues he may do, and I believe they’re simply mad that I shut all of it down and I wasn’t going to permit it to occur.”
Bautista says it’s a must to look no additional than Aldo’s efficiency towards Zahabi to comprehend why he wasn’t going to play any video games with the Brazilian or try to show their battle right into a three-round slugfest.
Whereas Zahabi was capable of climate a heavy storm within the third spherical earlier than incomes the unanimous choice win, Aldo blasted him with a barrage of pictures that just about completed the battle. That was all of the proof Bautista wanted to point out why he didn’t need to have interaction in that type of warfare with Aldo as a result of Zahabi was almost completed, and he may have finally gone dwelling with a loss on his report based mostly on how that battle performed out.
“[Aiemann] Zahabi, he gained the battle and he shut him down as nicely and gassed him on the finish, however he took a soccer kick to the face for his troubles,” Bautista mentioned. “Credit score to Zahabi, he took that shot and acquired again up and put it again on Aldo.
“[But] you by no means know. That ref may have jumped in as quickly as that soccer kick got here to the face, and he fell again like that and that might be the top of the battle and also you lose that. It’s loopy.”
Clearly, Bautista holds no ailing will in the direction of Aldo that he was upset with how their battle ended, however he gained’t apologize for doing no matter it took to win that evening.
As upsetting because it was on the time, Bautista has lengthy since moved on and he is aware of an awesome efficiency towards Patchy Combine at UFC 316 will change the narrative on him once more.
“Years from now you’re going to go Tapology and scroll down and also you’re going to see a inexperienced [mark for a win] and it’s going to say Jose Aldo,” Bautista mentioned. “Persons are going to overlook and that’s all that issues.
“I’m simply excited to have this battle and get previous all that. We’ll see. That’s a part of the sport. It’s one thing I get to cope with when you get to the highest. You’re going to have moments like these. You by no means know what’s going to return your approach and also you’ve simply acquired to cope with it.”
