RIO DE JANEIRO – Jose Aldo doesn’t listen to the haters, even if the one criticizing him is UFC president Dana White.
Unbeaten since 2005, and going for his 9th UFC/WEC title defense against Chad Mendes at UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 25, Aldo was once described by White as a fighter with “all the talent in the world” who “just lays back and doesn’t let anything go.”
Aldo finished two of five opponents in the UFC, exactly the ones he fought in Rio de Janeiro, and stopped seven of his eight fights under the WEC banner. The Nova Uniao featherweight wants to get his job done as fast as possible, but he won’t risk anything to finish fights.
“I don’t care what he says. He’s a businessman, he wants to promote his shows,” Aldo said of White during a UFC 179 media day in Rio de Janeiro this past Tuesday. “He wants us to go in there and do our best without thinking about the consequences. Whatever he says, I don’t care. I care about what Andre (Pederneiras) tells me, what we have to train and do. That’s what I focus on.”
Aldo is currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, and being No. 2 doesn’t bother him.
“I’m still evolving. I still have much to do to get better. That’s what I focus on,” he said. “If I’m the No. 1 or not, I leave that to the media and the fans. To me, I’ll always be the best. I feel I’m the best technically speaking, but I never think I’m the best and I’m unbeatable. I do everything I can to stay champion.”
Aldo explains why you shouldn’t listen to Dana White’s pre-fight talk, citing his teammate and former UFC champion Renan Barao as an example.
Prior to his fourth UFC title defense against T.J. Dillashaw in May, White said multiple times that Barao could be best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and that got into Barao’s head.
“I think Barao is an outstanding fighter and has everything to be the champion, but he lost himself with everything that was said,” Aldo said. “He got himself into what Dana was saying, that he was unbeatable and everything. We try to stay focused because the other guy is also training to win.”
Dillashaw dominated and finished Barao at UFC 173, snapping Barao’s 33-fight unbeaten streak. The bantamweights were set to collide one more time at Saturday’s UFC 177 in Sacramento, Calif., but Barao was removed from the card after passing out during his weight cut on Friday.