Fansided

10 reasons to watch UFC 245: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington

By Raphael Garcia

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: (L-R) Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington face off during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: (L-R) Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington face off during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
8 of 11
Next
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 8: Jose Aldo stands on the scale during the UFC 200 weigh-ins at T-Mobile Arena on July 8, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 8: Jose Aldo stands on the scale during the UFC 200 weigh-ins at T-Mobile Arena on July 8, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /

Jose Aldo: The dangerous weight cut

Weight cutting is an important aspect of mixed martial arts and in many ways the dark figure in the room that hasn’t truly been addressed. Fans and fighters are often maligned when fights are scrapped or shifted due to a fighter being unable to make the contracted weight limits. Still, it’s a part of MMA and combat sports that has become accepted and expected. Still, watching former UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, cut down to the bantamweight division has been a challenging ask for everyone involved.

For one, Aldo is a fighter that throughout his career, many expected that he’d move up to lightweight rather than ever moving down. Many pundits, fans and other fighters romanticized the idea of Aldo moving up to challenge the best lightweight fighters in the world. Even though he’s never missed a contracted weight limit for a fight, there were still rumblings about the struggle that he frequently endured to make the cut. The same has occurred during his move down to 135 pounds, as pictures throughout this fight camp created conversations about the damage being done to his body. With weigh-ins scheduled for Friday, his walk to the scale will be as breathtaking as his walk to the Octagon.

Also, there’s questions about what his inclusion at 135 pounds does for the division. Henry Cejudo sits at the top as the champion, but he hasn’t shown much interest in fighting the surging prospects in the division. Aldo, along with Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber, have the perceived name value that others lack. If Aldo were to dominate Moraes on Saturday, the expectation should be that he’d leap to the top of the line as a title challenger. Regardless of his documented visual struggles with making the 135-pound weight limit.

Home/UFC