Jose Aldo no fan of Reebok Fight Kit vows to violate IV ban
Jose Aldo: “I don’t think it looks good, everyone has their own style. I can’t do anything about it, just talk. We have to accept. We are the Power Rangers.”
Fighter reactions to the new Reebok Fight Kit have ranged from the glowing to the positive to the resigned to what we can now term ‘The Jose Aldo.’
The new uniforms debuted at UFC 189; Aldo of course pulled out of the event with a rib injury the severity of which is a point of contention.
The UFC featherweight champion will not be able to sport his sponsors when he finally fights Interim champion Conor McGregor, and at a press conference at Nova Uniao gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aldo expressed his displeasure.
“It sucks, but what can we do?” said Aldo as translated by Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting.com. “We know it’s a private company, everybody has their contracts. I don’t think it looks good, everyone has their own style. I can’t do anything about it, just talk. We have to accept. We are the Power Rangers.”
While fighter response to the look of the new apparel has been varied, the feel of it has been generally well received. However, Aldo has yet to actually try it.
“We’ll see,” he said. “When I try it out, I can talk about it.”
The Reebok apparel will doubtless look and feel normal in time, but right now, for most fans in the hardcore fanbase, it does feel a little weird. After UnderArmor acquired the awesome Roots of Fight that seemed like the ideal company to outfit the world’s dominant fight league. But they doubtless offered far less cash support for the sport, so this is what we have, and will for years to come. Whatever your opinion, get used to it.
Aldo also expressed anger over the coming IV ban, as well as a puzzling lack of understanding of the issues. The USADA is trying to prevent blood doping. One means of doing that is searching for trace elements of the plastic bag that the athletes blood is stored in. IV bags also leave the same traces, which is a primary reason for the ban.
Aldo vowed to violate the ban.
“Only if they put security guard with me 24 hours a day,” he said, as transcribed by Adrian MacNair for MMAMania. “I don’t care. That’s what’s going to happen. I will do it anyway or someone else will do it for me. I will go to a friends house, to a different hotel room. I don’t fucking care about them. They won’t take me out of the fight anyway. They can’t take me from the fight. It’s not doping. They will say they will test me. How are they going to get IV rehydration from my urine, brother? Only if they got new techniques. They are ninjas. They are f—ing stupid.”
Given that they do have new techniques, there is some degree of irony in the last line.
