UFC president Dana White believes he took care of one of the obstacles in in the way of a Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis superfight Wednesday.
“I think what Aldo was worried about, is if Aldo moves up to 155 and vacates the title, he wants to be treated like a champion in this fight – which he would be,” White said on FOX Sports Live. “All the things that he gets at 145 pounds as a champion he would receive, and I think that was part of the issue, and that was all worked out today.”
If Aldo moves up to 155 pounds, and gives up his title, White predicted a scenario of Chad Mendes and Cub Swanson fighting for the vacant featherweight title.
“If Aldo lost at 155, he could move back down and challenge the new champion for that [145] belt,” White said.
Earlier Wednesday, Pettis’ manager Mike Roberts believed Aldo didn’t want to give up the featherweight title and they were preparing to fight someone else.
“We’re interested in Anthony defending his belt against the top guys at 155,” Roberts told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “If Aldo doesn’t want to fight for the belt, we’ll fight someone else.”
Aldo’s manager Andre Pederneiras said in a televised interview recently he wanted to do the fight at a catchweight so both fighters wouldn’t put their belts on the line.
“(A catchweight) would be interesting for both,” Pederneiras said. “They would keep the belts and do the fight everybody wants to see. Nobody wants to take the other’s title, we want to see the fight and do a great show for everybody. Aldo would move up a little, Pettis cuts a little, and it’s good for everybody.”