In high-level MMA, every edge a fighter can gain can make the difference in the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Leading up to the historic UFC 200 event in July, which also just so happened to be his first fight since his crushing defeat to Conor McGregor, former longtime UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo wasn’t taking any chances.
Aldo spoke about having a spy in opponent Frankie Edgar’s camp during a media day with the Nova Uniao camp this week.
“If I kicked, he’d take me down,” Aldo said. “We had a few spies from the other side, people that were training close to him the entire week, and they always came and talked to us. So I had to stop kicking and [using] my left hand, because he would counter on that.”
When asked outright if he had a spy in Edgar’s camp, the Brazilian star took things one step further, insisting he had multiple spies.
“Of course I had [spies]. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I kick? That’s my instinct,” Aldo said. “So we always have a spy. We send someone to be a part of that training [room] and then they give us information. We get that information and know what they are training.”
While Aldo wouldn’t reveal the names of those who helped provide him with information, he did allude to the fact that this wasn’t the first time he used this tactic leading up to a fight.
“Thank God it always happens, man,” Aldo said. “We always have Brazilians in the other corners. When I go train in the first day, I also see the list of corner man. And, if there’s a Brazilian, we go after him and ask him to take a look, because that helps a lot.”
Jose Aldo would go on to defeat Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision at UFC 200 in what many are calling one of the finer Octagon performances in Aldo’s career. With the win, he has earned himself the interim UFC Featherweight title and a guaranteed next shot at the linear title, which he held for so many years.
H/T to MMAFighting.com
