Jose Aldo’s Coach Suggests Meaningless Non-Title Catchweight Fight Against Anthony Pettis


(“Tell you what…if Pettis wins, we can give him that Bellator belt as a souvenir.” Photo via UpperBrazil.com)

For UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, the prospect of a super-fight against lightweight champion Anthony Pettis sounds like a pretty damn good idea — except for that part where Aldo would have to give up his belt to take the fight. That part kind of sucks. And so, Aldo’s coach and manager Andre Pederneiras has suggested a solution: A 150-pound catchweight fight where nobody’s title is on the line. Essentially, a meaningless exhibition. Wouldn’t that be fun?

“(A catchweight) would be interesting for both,” Pederneiras told Ta na Area. “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.”

“Nobody wants to take the other’s title?” What kind of pussified patty-cake bullshit is this? Why wouldn’t Aldo want to become the third two-division champion in UFC history? Why fight Anthony Pettis at all, if a title wasn’t on the line? And how on Earth is this “good for everybody” if it requires Pettis to cut extra weight for a non-title fight?

Clearly, the Aldo camp has gotten cold feet about vacating the featherweight title to pursue a matchup they might not win. And as you can imagine, nobody’s jumping out of their seats to take Pederneiras up on his offer:


(“Tell you what…if Pettis wins, we can give him that Bellator belt as a souvenir.” Photo via UpperBrazil.com)

For UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, the prospect of a super-fight against lightweight champion Anthony Pettis sounds like a pretty damn good idea — except for that part where Aldo would have to give up his belt to take the fight. That part kind of sucks. And so, Aldo’s coach and manager Andre Pederneiras has suggested a solution: A 150-pound catchweight fight where nobody’s title is on the line. Essentially, a meaningless exhibition. Wouldn’t that be fun?

“(A catchweight) would be interesting for both,” Pederneiras told Ta na Area. “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.”

“Nobody wants to take the other’s title?” What kind of pussified patty-cake bullshit is this? Why wouldn’t Aldo want to become the third two-division champion in UFC history? Why fight Anthony Pettis at all, if a title wasn’t on the line? And how on Earth is this “good for everybody” if it requires Pettis to cut extra weight for a non-title fight?

Clearly, the Aldo camp has gotten cold feet about vacating the featherweight title to pursue a matchup they might not win. And as you can imagine, nobody’s jumping out of their seats to take Pederneiras up on his offer:

“We’re interested in Anthony defending his belt against the top guys at 155,” said Pettis’s manager Mike Roberts today. “If Aldo doesn’t want to fight for the belt, we’ll fight someone else.”

It’s not like there’s a shortage of lightweight challengers who actually want to fight Pettis at 155 pounds, so Pederneiras won’t get very far trying to get cute with this catchweight stuff. In fact, as soon as two rival camps start bickering about weight classes, that’s when you know that a super-fight isn’t going to happen. (See also: Rousey vs. Cyborg.) So thanks a lot, Andre. You’re banned too, now.