As Mario Bautista prepares for his return to the octagon at UFC 316, approximately eight months will have passed since his victory over Jose Aldo. He is clearly ready to leave the controversy surrounding that fight firmly in the past.
What unfolded was a grueling contest that went back and forth, with Bautista ultimately securing a split-decision win. However, the outcome sparked immediate negative reactions, with many fans arguing he didn`t deserve the nod and expressing anger over his game plan, which successfully neutralized many of Aldo`s signature attacks. What should have been a moment of triumph for the biggest win of his career turned into Bautista having to defend his performance. The entire unpleasant situation was reignited recently when Aldo made his comeback against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315.
While the ordeal was undoubtedly frustrating, Bautista understood that the backlash stemmed more from Aldo`s status as one of MMA`s most popular and beloved figures than anything personal against him.
“Everyone loves Jose Aldo and everyone wants to see the old Jose Aldo,” Bautista explained. “The highlights, all the things he could do, and I think they`re just mad that I shut it all down and I wasn`t going to allow it to happen.”
Bautista suggests one only needs to look at Aldo`s performance against Zahabi to understand precisely why he had no intention of engaging in a reckless, three-round slugfest with the legendary Brazilian.
Although Zahabi weathered a significant storm in the third round to earn a unanimous decision, Aldo landed a barrage of shots that came dangerously close to finishing the fight. For Bautista, this was all the evidence needed to justify his cautious approach; Zahabi was nearly stopped and could have easily suffered a loss based on how close he came to being finished.
“[Aiemann] Zahabi, he won the fight and he shut him down as well and gassed him at the end, but he took a soccer kick to the face for his troubles,” Bautista recounted. “Credit to Zahabi, he took that shot and got back up and put it back on Aldo.”
“But] you never know,” he added, reflecting on the fine margins in a fight. “That ref could have jumped in as soon as that soccer kick came to the face, and he fell back like that and that would be the end of the fight and you lose that. It`s crazy.”
Naturally, Bautista holds no resentment towards Aldo for being upset about the fight`s conclusion, but he remains unapologetic for doing whatever was necessary to secure the victory that night.
Despite the initial upset, Bautista has long since moved forward. He is confident that a strong performance against Patchy Mix at UFC 316 will shift the public narrative surrounding him once again.
“Years from now you`re going to go Tapology and scroll down and you`re going to see a green [mark for a win] and it`s going to say Jose Aldo,” Bautista predicted. “People are going to forget and that`s all that matters.”
“I`m just excited to have this fight and get past all that,” he concluded. “We`ll see. That`s part of the game. It`s something I get to deal with once you get to the top. You`re going to have moments like these. You never know what`s going to come your way and you`ve just got to deal with it.”
