Henry Cejudo still considers Jose Aldo the greatest featherweight of all time.
Former WEC and UFC 145-pound champion Aldo is currently the record holder for most divisional title defenses at seven. Trailing him is current champ Alexander Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC), who notched his fifth this past Saturday with a third-round TKO of Yair Rodriguez in the UFC 290 headliner.
Cejudo considers title defenses a big factor in determining who is the greatest featherweight of all time, but one way he can see Volkanovski surpassing Aldo is by doing something “The King of Rio” has never done.
“If I was in Volkanovski’s shoes, depending on how the surgery ends up going for him, I would fight Islam (Makhachev),” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “I would go for that champ-champ status. I would go out there and challenge myself. You have (five) title defenses now. You’re (three) away from beating Jose Aldo for the most title defenses in featherweight history. But you go up a weight class, you win the lightweight title, if you can pull that off, that puts you in a different category.
“As of right now, just based off of numbers, Jose Aldo is still the best featherweight of all time. Just based off numbers. I’m not saying the best ever featherweight, but through facts and through numbers, it’s still Jose Aldo. You forget the special things that Jose Aldo and the wrestlers he has beaten. From Chad Mendes, to Frankie Edgar, he beat both of those guys twice. Two Division I wrestlers, legit wrestlers who he was able to beat. An All-American in Chad Mendes and a finalist. He’s done some amazing things, but still, numbers do not lie.”
Volkanovski came very close to realizing his dual champion goal when he was edged out by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) this past February at UFC 284. After retaining his title against Rodriguez, Volkanovski could earn another crack at Makhachev, who awaits his next challenger for the UFC 294 card on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
