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Irene
Aldana could have positioned herself as a top contender in the
UFC women’s bantamweight division with a victory over Holly Holm on
Saturday night.
Instead, the Lobo Gym MMA representative faltered at
UFC on ESPN 16, losing a clear-cut unanimous verdict to Holm at
Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi. The former bantamweight queen kept Aldana
off balance with movement, punching flurries, a variety of kicks
and timely takedowns over the course of a frustrating 25
minutes.
Aldana reacted to the setback in a recent post on her Instagram
account.
“Today things didn’t go my way,” she wrote. “First of all I want to
apologize to my corner because we had a very specific fight plan
that I could not execute. I felt that something was wrong with my
left foot; it wasn’t responding since the beginning of the fight.
No excuses, I still know that I faced the best version of Holly,
and I congratulate her for winning.
“ I am proud to know that I am competing with the best in the
world. This is how this is. This is how sport is: We win, we lose.
But as I’ve always shown, the only thing that’s next for me is to
train harder, improve and come back stronger than ever. Thanks to
all the people who have shown me their support in good and bad
times. Thanks to my sponsors for their incredible support always!
Ready for what’s next.”
Aldana had won five of her previous six promotional outings heading
into UFC on ESPN 16 — including a first-round knockout of Ketlen
Vieira this past December.
