Irene Aldana claps back after fan asks her to retire
Irene Aldana's injury, or rather her cut, after Noche UFC 306 drew significant attention. So, she recently took to Instagram to reassure her fans that she isn't quite done yet, but this still drew a fairly negative comment from one user who called for the Mexican women's bantamweight to retire.
Naturally, the 135-pounder did not take kindly to the fan's statement. She hit back with a call for the fan to retire themselves, but stopped short of saying anything worse. Regardless, Aldana is aiming to return as soon as possible and turn her career around after a difficult run of form in recent months.
"You retire"
At Noche UFC 306, she faced Norma Dumont in a three-round barnburner that saw both women bloody and batter each other. However, Dumont was by far the better fighter, and a clash of heads cut Aldana deeper than almost any fighter ever has. It was among the worst facial injuries in UFC history.
However, owing to her grit and toughness, Aldana survived, digging deep to wade her way through three difficult rounds. Unfortunately, the unanimous decision loss is still on her record, causing her to slump down to No.6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.
For now, Aldana will lick her wounds and plot a return to the top of the division. Whether she finds success may very well be unlikely. She is already 36 years old, and fighters around that age tend to struggle against top competition.
Irene Aldana hasn't done well over the past year
Noche UFC 306 marked the latest loss in Irene Aldana's career. However, before losing to Nurma Dumont, she managed to drag Karol Rosa to a unanimous decision, claiming victory at UFC 296 in a Fight of the Night contender. Before that, though, she had a widely criticized performance against Amanda Nunes.
It was Aldana's first crack at undisputed gold, but she authored a toothless performance that saw her drop all five rounds, allowing Nunes to retain the women's bantamweight belt.