Jose Aldo is getting ready for another title fight in the UFC, but it seems that Anthony Pettis won’t leave his future plans for now.
The featherweight kingpin takes on Ricardo Lamas at the co-main event of UFC 169 in Newark, N.J., and he knows that another successful title defense inside the Octagon could put him closer to a lightweight match-up with the 155-pound champion.
“People will never forget this idea,” Aldo told MMAFighting.com.
Aldo needs to answer about the possibility of moving up to the lightweight division in every interview he gives, but he feels that he proved he would be a force at 155 pounds after defeating former champion Frankie Edgar.
“I was pissed with that in the past, and then I fought Edgar and proved that I could do good fights (at 155),” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I still have many goals to accomplish. One day I’ll fight at 155.”
Aldo meets Lamas at 145 pounds on Feb. 1, but the Nova Uniao fighter trains with all types of fighters in his camp, from bantamweights to welterweights.
“We always train with heavier sparring partners to make it harder, so the fight will be easier,” he said. “It would be normal for me (to fight at 155). We create difficulties in training so we never think it’s easy.”
The Brazilian is training hard in Rio de Janeiro for the bout, and he doesn’t expect an easy win in Newark.
“Ricardo Lamas deserved this chance, he was the next in line,” he said. “He’s coming of good wins and earned the shot. He’s a well-rounded fighter, but I still have to sit down with my team to watch his videos and plan a strategy.
“We sit down with all the coaches and start debating the techniques, and then we come up with the strategy. But I hate to watch videos, man. I watch it because it’s my job, I have to, but I leave it with them. I always have a strategy in my head, so it’s annoying to watch a jab, a takedown, everything in slow motion.
“I don’t even watch my own fights. If it’s not someone from my team or someone I like, I guarantee you that I’ll go to the movies with my family instead.”
Aldo won’t headline UFC 169 fight card because his teammate Renan Barao, UFC’s new bantamweight champion, takes on Urijah Faber in the main event.
“Barao and I are going to fight at the same night, so we’ll be stronger when we get inside the cage,” Aldo said. “The training is intense here at Nova Uniao. I will be ready when the time comes.
“It helps me a lot because when you’re alone in a card in January or February, a lot of teammates travel to their cities to spend the holidays with their families, so now that we’re both fighting on the same card everybody has to stay here to help us.”