Ex-champ Aldo scowled while making 143; Zahabi grinned and flexed for 142
MONTREAL – Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo is going back to his old weight class Saturday, but it wasn’t planned.
Aldo (32-9 MMA, 14-8 UFC) booked his fight against Aiemann Zahabi (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC 315 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Bell Centre at bantamweight, the division he’s fought in for more than five years.
But Friday at the official weigh-ins at the host hotel in Montreal, just seconds before he stepped on the scale, it was announced Aldo’s fight with Zahabi had moved to featherweight. Aldo then got on the scale, with an assistant at the ready for him while stepping up and down off the scale and the stage.
Aldo weighed in at 143 pounds and looked like making that number had been less than pleasant – even though it was a full seven pounds higher than the contracted weight. Aldo was expressionless when asked to get back on the scale for photos.
If the fight was moved to featherweight because of weight-cutting issues for Zahabi, he didn’t show it. He came to the scale seconds after Aldo and weighed 142, then smiled as he posed and flexed.
The UFC has made no other official announcement yet about the change, but all signs indicate a rough weight cut for Aldo and a change to the new weight to save the fight.
Aldo lost the featherweight title in 2015 after a lengthy run. He won an interim belt the next year, but lost two title fights to Max Holloway. Two years later, a loss to future champ Alexander Volkanovski effectively sealed his title hopes at featherweight, and he dropped to bantamweight in late 2019.
Aldo went 3-3 in the division, then annouced his retirement. That didn’t stick for long. He soon took up boxing matches, and then a year ago came out of one of the shortest retirements in UFC history. He’s gone 1-1 at bantamweight since then and is trying to rebound from a loss to Mario Bautista.
Zahabi, who lives and trains in Montreal, has won five straight fights. Coincidentally, the first fight on his current run was a knockout of Drako Rodriguez – after Rodriguez came in heavy and the bout was moved to a catchweight north of 140 pounds.
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