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Jose Aldo is nearing the end of his brutal weight cut down to the Bantamweight limit of 136 pounds (non-title fight) ahead of his division debut against Marlon Moraes this Saturday night (Dec. 14, 2019) at UFC 245 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The former Featherweight champion, though, is adamant this isn’t going to be a one-time thing, saying he has his eyes on division champion, Henry Cejudo, who also lays claim to the Flyweight title.
And since Marlon is currently ranked No. 1 at 135 pounds, logic says if Aldo defeats him inside T-Mobile Arena, he should be next man up for a shot at one of “Triple C’s” titles.
“I don’t believe I am cutting the line on anybody,’ expand Jose during a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “All the contenders are there, but Marlon is ranked No. 1. I asked for the fight so when I beat the No. 1, and also being a former champion, I should be the one next to fight for the title.
And this is what Aljamain Sterling was afraid would happen.
Over his last five fights at 145 pounds, Jose has amassed a 2-3 record, with two losses coming at the hands current division king, Max Holloway. So you can’t completely blame him for feeling his chances of reclaiming that strap are slim as long as “Blessed” is at the top.
Of course, Aldo has two big challenges ahead of him before he can get close to sniffing a Bantamweight championship bout, first of which is hitting his mark come weigh-in day. If all goes well, he has to take out one of the most dominate 135-pound fighters in the game today, and pray the cut down doesn’t affect his performance.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 245 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN 2 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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