This Day in MMA History: June 3

In June of 2017, ahead of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Jose Aldo appeared to be riding high. While he had been dethroned 18 months earlier by Conor McGregor in stunning fashion, he had bounced back, winning the interim featherweight title at UFC 200 by defeating Frankie Edgar in one of the most impressive performances of his career. When McGregor’s continued failure to return and defend his belt resulted in him being stripped and Aldo being promoted back to undisputed champ, all seemed right with the world, at least as much as it could be. If and when McGregor came back, the Aldo rematch would be a blockbuster.

Facing Aldo at UFC 212 would be the red-hot Max Holloway, who was riding a 10-fight winning streak, and whose last defeat had coincidentally been to McGregor, early in both men’s UFC careers. While Holloway had been thrashing increasingly credible opponents in increasingly convincing fashion throughout his streak, Aldo’s divisional G.O.A.T. status, stellar outing against Edgar and history of inspired performances in his home country combined to make him a comfortable favorite, nearly 2-to-1 in some books.

On the night of June 3 in Rio, however, Holloway put on a show. While Aldo came out very strong, clearly winning the first round and likely the second as well, the Hawaiian’s constant forward movement and relentless barrage of kicks and punches simply broke the champion down. By the end of the second round, even those who felt Aldo had won the frame had to admit he was looking the worse for wear, and the third round offered more of the same. Holloway knocked Aldo down with punches early in the round, and from then on it was all one-way traffic. Holloway threatened with a rear-naked choke attempt before Aldo escaped, only to get caught on his hands and knees, where a final flurry of punches spurred referee “Big” John McCarthy into action. The UFC had a new featherweight champion in the 25-year-old “Blessed” one.

The two rematched five months later at UFC 218, in a bout that was eerily similar to their first meeting. Once again, Aldo looked sharp early, but Holloway’s withering assault proved too much to withstand, and Aldo was again stopped in the third. Since then, Aldo has remained in contention, winning as well as losing some against top competition in multiple weight classes, and thanks to a strange confluence of circumstances, he will fight Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight title this weekend at UFC 250.

Meanwhile, Holloway has experienced highs as well as lows, defending his belt several times and experiencing a weight cut-related health scare before bring turned away in a lightweight title bid by Dustin Poirier, then losing his featherweight championship to Alexander Volkanovski. Still just 28 years old, Holloway appears to have plenty of time to regroup and plot his future in the sport.

As of the time of this writing, McGregor has yet to fight at featherweight again, but is 1-1 in MMA and 0-1 in boxing since.