Jose Aldo was not the only one frustrated by his unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 237.

In an interview with Combate, Nova Uniao’s head coach Andre Pederneiras also shared his opinion on what happened at that night in Rio de Janeiro. In his opinion, it all came down to his pupil not being able to pull the trigger and letting the moment to finish the fight slip through his fingers.

“Aldo had big expectations of winnning by knockout, he really anticipated that moment. Volkanovski would touch him, run, and Aldo couldn’t find his distance to put his hands on him and really look for the knockout. That wait let the Australian score points throughout the rounds. In my point of view, he (Alexander) never won all three rounds, maybe a split decision would have been the most logicalp outcome, but Aldo himself allowed that to happen. He said it himself that he froze when he should have attacked and finished the fight. Those things happen in a fight.”

When asked if fighting at home and the need to please the crowd interfered in the performance, Pederneiras explained that Aldo told him he didn’t feel that way, but Andre believes the pressure could have played a part in the defeat.

“I ask him, he tells me no, but I think it does mess with you. It’s something that happens, you can’t do anything about it. That can lead a person to freezing. Because he is so experienced, we thought it would not happen, but he’s an athlete, a human being. It could happen to anyone, he had never frozen before.”

When it comes to Aldo’s future, the former champion still has one fight left in his contract, but neither Jose or Pederneiras have an idea when they will come back to the Octagon, nor if it will be the last time Aldo does so.

“We should have a talk to decide that. For now, we don’t talk about it. Aldo is on vacation. Many people thought he wouldn’t win again after the Holloway losses, because of what it can do to your head. He bounced back, he showed that’s not his case. It’ll be the same thing again now.”

While Aldo rests, however, the featherweight title will be on the line between current the champion, Max Holloway, and former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, a man whom Jose already defeated twice. In Pederneiras’ opinion, an Edgar victory should favor his pupil, given their past, and Andre hopes that outcome comes true.

“I think Edgar will beat Holloway. Frankie moves around a lot, and Max, although, he keeps constant pressure, he is not a one-punch knockout kind of guy, so that makes it difficult. Besides, Edgar is good at taking people down, I think he will keep a short distance, will thrown in some takedowns and touch Holloway a lot. A Frankie win favors Aldo.”

Before the loss to Volkanovski, Jose Aldo (28-5) was on a two-fight winning streak, with TKO wins over Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano back in July 2018 and February 2019, respectively.