Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras says that he and Jose Aldo are willing to stay on the sidelines until they get the next UFC featherweight title shot.
Jose Aldo’s reign as the world’s #1 featherweight came to a shocking end at UFC 194, when Conor McGregor knocked him out in 13 seconds. Not even two weeks after Aldo’s loss, Andre Pederneiras said Aldo was planning to return in April, but that tune has changed considerably.
Aldo has been adamant about wanting an immediate rematch, as has Pederneiras, his longtime coach and manager. It’s now gotten to the point where Aldo has said he won’t accept any non-title fight, and in a recent interview in Rio de Janeiro, Pederneiras suggested that Aldo could sit out the year while the top of the featherweight division sorts itself out. (quotes via MMA Fighting)
“What I can say is that that’s our idea right now,” Aldo’s manager Andre Pederneiras said in a media scrum in Rio de Janeiro. “It might change tomorrow, but that’s our idea right now.”
“Aldo believes he has this right, and so do I,” he added. “He will only fight for the belt. The champion he was, undefeated for 10 years, he thinks he has the same right others had. Some fighters are getting rematches they deserve less than Aldo. If it’s going to be soon or in 10 years, he thinks he deserves a title fight.”
McGregor is scheduled to fight Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title at UFC 197 on March 5th, and is expected to make his first featherweight defense vs. Frankie Edgar regardless of the outcome of the RDA bout.