New bantamweight champion Petr Yan’s win over UFC toughman Jose Aldo was a test of the Russian’s patience and precision, according to Owen Roddy – but Conor McGregor’s boxing coach has hailed Brazilian Aldo’s survival abilities.
Roddy was an enthralled observer as Yan secured a brutal fifth-round win after biding his time in the early stages against his more experienced opponent.
Roddy watched on as the new champion rained in punches that could have caused an earlier finish for a less durable fighter.
Former Cage Warriors bantamweight Roddy admitted he was “very excited to see Yan again” in the aftermath of a late stoppage that the vast majority of viewers felt came too late against the man who was stopped by McGregor in 13 seconds in 2015.
“Yan’s phenomenal when it comes to being patient and not wasting shots,” Roddy said in his analysis of UFC 251 on Fight Island. “He took his time.
“Aldo started well, had his moments, but as the fight went on you could see Yan was… constantly landing clean on the chin.
“Jesus, [Aldo] has a phenomenal chin because he took some clean shots but you can’t take them for 25 minutes.
“It was late into the fourth round when Yan landed some big, big blows. I thought Yan would have done it earlier but I forgot how tough Aldo was.”
Roddy has been busy training fighters at his Straight Blast Gym in Dublin since helping McGregor beat Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in Las Vegas in January.
Predicting that the Aldo fight would make him a household name among fans last week, Yan’s trainer, John Hutchinson, described his fighter as a better boxer than McGregor.
