UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo wasted little time in refuting the notion that he was afraid to fight newly crowned 155-pound titleholder Anthony Pettis.
In an interview on the Brazilian TV show Planeta Nocaute on Sunday, “Scarface” said he welcomes all challengers at 145 pounds, and Pettis is no exception (via MMA Fighting).
“I can fight Cain Velasquez if they want,” Aldo said on the program. “It’s not up to me, I’m not the matchmaker. I want to fight, I’m here to fight. I train everyday to destroy whoever they put in front of me. I’m not scared of anyone. They have two arms and two legs, and I will do my best and win.”
UFC President Dana White was critical of comments made by Andre Pederneiras, Aldo’s manager, indicating that he was only interested in an Aldo-Pettis matchup at featherweight.
Here’s what White said on the matter at the UFC 164 post-fight scrum (via MMA Junkie):
” … I mean, for his manager to come out, this is what drives me crazy about managers. I love him. He’s a good guy. I’ve known Andre for years. But when you come out and make a statement like that, you make it look like your guy is afraid of him. You make it look like Aldo is afraid. And that might not be Aldo’s same opinion. It might be his manager saying, ‘This is what I want to happen here.’ But it makes it look like he’s afraid of Anthony Pettis, which already gives Anthony Pettis an advantage.”
Aldo also said on the show that White “knows he promised us things” in regards to a fight with Pettis, though he didn’t get into specifics.
Pettis and Aldo were originally scheduled to clash at UFC 163 earlier this month, but Pettis withdrew from the featherweight title fight due to a knee injury.
The Nova Uniao still headlined the event, which took place in his homeland of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, against Chan-Sung Jung and he won the bout via fourth round TKO.
Aldo has now won a whopping 16 straight bouts and boasts a 23-1 record overall, with his only loss coincidentally occurring in his one and only appearance at lightweight in November 2005.
The devastating striker, who is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has teased moving up to lightweight on several occasions, but has yet to move forward with the idea thus far.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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