José Aldo fails to convince judges and loses to Bautista

After a victorious return in Rio de Janeiro with UFC 301, Jose Aldo returned to the octagon and faced Mario Bautista no UFC 307which took place on Saturday night (5), in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States.

The fight, valid in the bantamweight division, was the third on the main card, led by Alex Poatan Pereira’s title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr.

With a very versatile style in the Octagon, Bautista bet on grappling to stop Aldo’s explosion in striking, where the Brazilian has a good advantage.

How was the fight between José Aldo and Mario Bautista

Bautista started to accelerate towards Aldo, landing the first blows and trying to wear the Brazilian down by holding him against the fence, but José showed calm in his takedown defenses and low kick precision, landing some cross strikes in the final stretch of the first round. .

The Rio native grew in the second round, drawing blood from Mario and continuing with good takedown defenses to keep the fight going and impose his explosive side in striking. The North American, however, managed to react and dominate the Brazilian on the grid twice.

Once again, the third round started explosively, with Aldo connecting more blows and, subsequently, Bautista attacking the fence — much to the discontent of the audience at the Delta Center, who began to boo him. The King of Rio managed to return to the octagon and land a few more blows in the final stretch of the duel.

After three rounds, the judges decided, in a split manner, that Mario Bautista would win. Now, the North American is expected to move up one position in the bantamweight category ranking and enter the top 10, while the former featherweight champion is expected to fall to 11th place and move further away from his dream of a belt in a different division.