Jose Aldo hasn’t competed since surrendering his title via third round TKO to Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 212 last month from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but it looks as if he’s begun thinking about his return to action.
Recently speaking with MMAFighting.com on the topic, Aldo revealed that highly ranked Cub Swanson could be an ‘option’ as an opponent for his next bout:
“Yes, Cub is an option,” Aldo said. “I think the ranking continues the same, there’s nowhere to run. Cub is well ranked, especially to be a challenge for me. Frankie (Edgar) will probably fight Max, so we can fight and a new contender will emerge.”
Aldo and Swanson first met at WEC 41 back in 2009 in a bout that Aldo won in just eight seconds with a devastating flying knee. Given each fighter’s place in the current featherweight rankings, however, it’s a rematch that makes sense.
And while this fight could certainly determine the next 145-pound title challenger, Aldo claims that he isn’t thinking about the belt at the moment:
“First of all, I still don’t think about fighting for the belt or not,” he said. “I think it has restarted for me. It’s in the past. It’s like if I was entering the division again. I want to come back to fighting, come back to winning, and then we can sit down and talk to see where I am.”
As far as how that fight would play out, Aldo recognizes the fact that both him and Swanson have changed since their first meeting many years ago. Currently, Swanson has won four straight since losing to Holloway, with those victories coming over the likes of Hacran Diaz, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Doo Hoo Choi, and Artem Lobov.
Aldo said that the rematch would be a ‘new fight’ with a ‘new story’:
“Both athletes changed a lot (since that fight),” Aldo said. “It will be a new fight, a new story. I respect everything he’s been doing in the UFC, and we have to train a lot to face a really tough opponent.”
Is this a fight you’d like to see?
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