Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
When Ultimate fighting Championship (UFC) president, Dana White, announced that Jose Aldo would face Henry Cejudo at UFC 250 for the Bantamweight title, many people were shocked for the simple fact that “Junior” was fresh off a loss to Marlon Moraes, which was preceded by a loss to Alexander Volkanvoski.
To here White explain it, Aldo’s legacy and past accomplishments were more than enough to warrant him getting the shot at “Triple C’s” now-vacant title. Eventually, the event was canceled and Dominick Cruz went on to face and come up short in his bid to dethrone Cejudo at UFC 249 this past May.
But after Cejudo abruptly retired following the win, UFC once again hand-picked Aldo to face Petr Yan for the vacant strap, which is set to go down this Sat. night (July 11, 2020) in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. And while there still may be some whispers here and there criticizing Aldo’s place in the title fight, the Brazilian bomber says he absolutely deserves the opportunity.
“I’m not worried about that,” Jose Aldo told MMA Junkie during a media scrum. “I won that fight. Even the judges afterwards said they agree with me. I beat Marlon, who’s the No. 1 contender, so it doesn’t bother me at all. I deserve to be here.”
Indeed, many felt “Junior” had done enough to earn the nod against “Magic” after their back-and-forth banger of a fight at UFC 245. In the end, Moraes earned the split-decision win, but it was Aldo that got the big prize.
And despite the naysayers, Aldo isn’t about to turn down the opportunity to make history and cross off one of the items on his combat “to do” list.
“It was always a dream of mine to be a champ in two different divisions. At first, I thought I was going to have to go up to lightweight, but now I’m down to bantamweight,” he added. “I really do think one day when I stop fighting I’m going to be able to look back and see everything that I did.”
Being 16 years and 34 pro fights deep into the fight game, Aldo is still going strong, though it wouldn’t be a crime to assume that his career could be winding down in the next couple of years. Before then, the former WEC and UFC Featherweight champion wants to prove that he is far from done writing his legacy.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 251 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+/ESPN “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To see the latest UFC 251: “Usman vs Masvidal” fight card click here.