After initially refusing a fight with former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, Dana White is now confirming that the fight will indeed happen August 3. Aldo, though, had a couple conditions attached to accepting the fight. Multiple sources are r…
After initially refusing a fight with former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, Dana White is now confirming that the fight will indeed happen August 3. Aldo, though, had a couple conditions attached to accepting the fight.
Multiplesources are reporting that, should Aldo defeat Pettis, he will be the next in line for a lightweight title fight. From Twitter:
This is shocking news out of Brazil that will send two divisions into an exciting disarray for fans. While Jose Aldo has been the most dominant featherweight in MMA since 2008, his cut down to 145 lbs is notoriously difficult, and a move up to lightweight has always been in the cards.
For the lightweight division, assuming an Aldo victory, this instantly adds a fearsome top contender that otherwise would not exist. With UFC champion Benson Henderson set to face Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in April, there is no clear next-in-line fighter for a title shot.
While the division is absolutely stacked with talent, fighters like Jim Miller and Gray Maynard are coming off recent losses. Past them, up-and-comers like KhabibNurmagomedov and TJ Grant are not well-known among fans. Aldo puts a relatively popular fighter on a collision course for a blockbuster title fight.
In the featherweight division, subtracting Aldo blows the top off a division that has contenders climbing over each other. Ricardo Lamas and Cub Swanson both have legitimate claims to a title shot as is, and a strong case can be made that Chan Sung Jung is up there as well. Past those three, Clay Guida, Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes could all be in line for a chance to take the gold.
Suffice it to say, exciting things are happening in the UFC today.
Sometimes all it takes is one conversation for cooler heads to prevail. Just two days after UFC president Dana White revealed that featherweight champion Jose Aldo was resistant to meet Anthony Pettis for his next title defense, a deal has been struck….
Sometimes all it takes is one conversation for cooler heads to prevail.
Just two days after UFC president Dana White revealed that featherweight champion Jose Aldo was resistant to meet Anthony Pettis for his next title defense, a deal has been struck.
On Monday during a MetroPCS chat with fans, some technical difficulties took down the broadcast, so White took advantage of the downtime and spoke to Aldo’s coach and manager Andre Pederneiras.
It obviously didn’t take long because just a few moments later the chat was back up and White had good news about the title fight August 3 .
“I just got off the phone with Andre Pederneiras and the Aldo fight is on, so it’s done,” White revealed. “The fight’s done, Pettis vs. Aldo in August; that was quick.”
Aldo and his management team had strongly disagreed with the UFC matching him up against Pettis, saying he didn’t deserve the shot at the title.
Needless to say, White was none too pleased at that stance and planned on having another conversation with his featherweight champion on Monday.
One call and one talk is all it took, and now Aldo is back on board to face Pettis for the UFC featherweight title on August 3 at an event that has yet to be named, as well as the location where it will take place.
Pettis was given the shot at Aldo after sending a text message to UFC president Dana White just moments after the champion defeated Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 156.
Already atop the lightweight division’s contender race, Pettis decided to seize the opportunity and offer to drop down to 145 pounds and fight Aldo.
The UFC jumped at making the fight, and two days later they announced Aldo vs. Pettis for August 3. For whatever reason, Aldo decided against the fight after the initial announcement, but now the two fighters are back on the same page and will meet later this year with the featherweight title on the line.
A new added wrinkle to the fight includes not only a title up for grabs at 145 pounds but quite possibly the next contender at 155 pounds. UFC president Dana White confirmed that if Aldo gets past Pettis, he will be able to move to lightweight and face the champion there as well
Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
“Jose Aldo came out and said, ‘There’s no way in hell I’m fighting Pettis. He’s absolutely refusing to fight Pettis — doesn’t think he deserves the shot.
“Andre Pederneiras was in England and he sat down with me and Lorenzo (Fertitta) and was like, ‘We don’t think he deserves it.’ “What do you mean you don’t think he deserves it? ‘Well, he might be the No. 1 guy at 155, but how does that make him the No. 1 guy (at 145)?’ Are you out of your f—ing mind? Are you serious? Did you seriously just ask me that question? It’s like if Aldo wanted to move up to 155, are we going to say he’s not the No. 1 contender? What are you talking about?…
“Jose Aldo came out and said, ‘There’s no way in hell I’m fighting Pettis. He’s absolutely refusing to fight Pettis — doesn’t think he deserves the shot.
“Andre Pederneiras was in England and he sat down with me and Lorenzo (Fertitta) and was like, ‘We don’t think he deserves it.’ “What do you mean you don’t think he deserves it? ‘Well, he might be the No. 1 guy at 155, but how does that make him the No. 1 guy (at 145)?’ Are you out of your f—ing mind? Are you serious? Did you seriously just ask me that question? It’s like if Aldo wanted to move up to 155, are we going to say he’s not the No. 1 contender? What are you talking about?…
“F—in’ right, [Aldo] is gonna fight Pettis. That fight’s on. He’s going to fight Pettis, or he’s not going to like how this is going to turn out.”
As we’ve seen over and over again in the UFC lately, “deserve” ain’t got nothing to do with it when you’re talking about title shots. With its event schedule growing more and more frantic — requiring more big fights to fill main event slots — the UFC now awards title shots based on the best available option at a specific moment, rather than waiting for the ideal matchup to come together. And so, we’ve got upcoming title challengers who have already gotten their asses kicked by the reigning champ (see: Bigfoot, Machida), title challengers who jumped up from lighter weight classes after falling short in their own divisions (see: Belfort, Sonnen), title challengers who are coming off a loss and a suspension (see: Diaz), title challengers who were champions in other organizations but have yet to make their UFC debuts (see: Melendez), and title challengers who weren’t even champions in other organizations, but hell, the champ’s gotta fight somebody, right? (see: Carmouche)
Maybe Anthony Pettis isn’t a former UFC champion like Frankie Edgar was, but compared to most of the other people I just mentioned, he’s pretty damn worthy of the opportunity. And if Aldo and his camp can’t wrap their heads around the current reality of the UFC, then they deserve whatever happens to them.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo isn’t nearly as excited about facing lightweight contender Anthony Pettis as everyone assumed he would be a few weeks ago. Earlier this month on the heels of Jose Aldo defeating Frankie Edgar to retain his UFC feath…
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo isn’t nearly as excited about facing lightweight contender Anthony Pettis as everyone assumed he would be a few weeks ago.
Earlier this month on the heels of Jose Aldo defeating Frankie Edgar to retain his UFC featherweight title, UFC President Dana White revealed that he received a very interesting text message from Anthony Pettis just moments after the fights ended.
Pettis asked to face Aldo next, which meant a move down to 145 pounds despite having already earned the next shot at the lightweight title with his blistering performance over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC on Fox 6 in late January.
Literally just two days later, the UFC made the fight official for August 3 with Anthony Pettis getting the shot at Jose Aldo.
Unfortunately, it appears Aldo isn’t in a giving mood because he’s refused to face Pettis since the fight was proposed to him by UFC officials earlier this month.
“Jose Aldo came out and said ‘There’s no way in hell I’m fighting Pettis,” White revealed when speaking to reporters following the UFC 157 post fight press conference. “He’s absolutely refusing to fight Pettis. Doesn’t think he deserves the shot.”
According to White, he and fellow UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta met with Aldo’s coach and manager Andre Pederneiras while in England at UFC on Fuel 7 last week, and they were admittedly shocked with what they heard.
“Andre Pederneiras was in England and sat down with me and Lorenzo and was like ‘we don’t think he deserves it,'” White stated. “I said ‘What do you mean, you don’t think he deserves it?’ I said ‘Are you out of your f–king mind? Are you serious, did you seriously just ask that question?’ It’s like if Aldo wanted to move up to 155, are we going to say he’s not the No. 1 contender? What are you talking about? Listen, I wouldn’t want to fight Pettis either.”
Needless to say, White and Fertitta were none too pleased with the reaction the got from Aldo’s camp regarding the fight.
What is even more puzzling is the fact that Aldo just fought Frankie Edgar, who had never fought at 145 pounds and was actually coming into their fight off of two straight losses. Something apparently changed however, when the name switched to Anthony Pettis, and Team Aldo wants nothing to do with the fight.
Despite their objections, White is more than confident the fight will come together because Aldo and his team won’t like what happens next, otherwise.
“That fight’s on,” White reiterated. “He’s going to fight Pettis or he’s not going to like how this is going to turn out.”
Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
I’m excited to see Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo, as I’m sure you probably are. I mean, who out there doesn’t want to see an interdivisional superfight between two of the most athletic, exciting competitors populating the contemporary …
I’m excited to see Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo, as I’m sure you probably are. I mean, who out there doesn’t want to see an interdivisional superfight between two of the most athletic, exciting competitors populating the contemporary mixed martial arts scene?
The fight promises to be an epic, only not in the The Iliad or The Odyssey sense.
It will be epic in the way that the greatest Harlequin romance novel of all time is epic. It’s a quick, thoughtless extravagance. A guilty pleasure that will entertain you for a night, then leave you feeling regretful for indulging where you know better than to indulge.
Not that I’ve read a lot of Harlequins (Subtext: “I wonder if they’ll buy it”).
Now, you’re probably wondering why I have likened Pettis vs. Aldo to a genre of entertainment geared toward perpetuating the fancies of the sexually frustrated, and that’s a fair question.
The reason, you see, is that like the wildly popular Fifty Shades of Grey belongs nowhere within an 800 mile radius of any text properly fitting into the cannon of English literature, Pettis vs. Aldo just doesn’t fit into the current UFC landscape.
Basically, both are popular money-makers and buzz-creators, but fundamentally senseless in their creation.
First off, title shots for new division arrivals should only be given for one of three reasons.
One, a top-ranked fighter’s title aspirations are blocked within his own weight class (Frankie Edgar vs. Jose Aldo). Two, a desperate situation demands it (Vitor Belfort vs. Jon Jones). Or three, a division utterly lacks a legitimate in-house contender (Belfort vs. Jones?).
Pettis vs. Aldo is none of these things. An argument could be made that Pettis is an elite UFC talent, but his promotional accomplishments certainly won’t blow you away—he’s 3-1 in the UFC, has never fought for a title and has zero wins over top-five opponents.
That’s not to belittle his recent achievements, which have been impressive. So impressive, he’s on the cusp of a title shot at 155. But is a three-fight win streak really enough to transcend divisional boundaries?
It’s not as though the featherweight class is void of viable title candidates. Guys like Chad Mendes, Chan Sung Jung, Ricardo Lamas and Cub Swanson are all right there, and Dennis Siver isn’t too far back himself.
Besides, it’s not like Pettis is blocked at 155, only delayed.
So why go out of the division to find a contender when there are plenty already in-house? Logic seems to be in short supply here, especially since Pettis has said he’ll be one and done at 145-pounds.
Speaking with Bleacher Report’s own Damon Martin, Pettis remarked, “I wouldn’t drop down to featherweight and try to stay down there and keep the belt, I just want to fight Aldo….”
A Pettis victory therefore means an absentee featherweight champion, one who would presumably vacate his title in pursuit of the lightweight strap. That’s the plan according to Pettis, anyway.
For sure I want to fight Ben Henderson. Ben Henderson is a guy that’s on my list, but he already had a bout contract signed, he’s fighting Gilbert Melendez, and unfortunately for me it’s a couple of months away,” says “Showtime.
Pettis’ desire to fight a pound-for-pound player for keeping busy’s sake is very admirable. It’s the kind of drive every fighter should display. But logistically, it makes no sense.
Besides Pettis’ suspect “featherweight” credentials, a fight with Aldo threatens to damage the legitimacy of the entire 145-pound weight class. Fans love the idea of dominant champions—like Aldo—and a Pettis victory and subsequent return to 155 rids the division of a deity and devalues the title in a big way.
Even if he were to return to 145 after challenging Henderson, the featherweight division—the real featherweight division—would have to wait until early 2014 to see another championship fight. That’s a long delay for a weight class that hasn’t seen an actual featherweight challenger fight for the belt since Chad Mendes did it back in January 2012.
If Aldo were to beat Pettis, it would solve many of the long-term issues facing the featherweight division, but it would severely complicate things at lightweight. Would Pettis still be the No. 1 contender if he loses to a smaller opponent? If not, who fights for the title next?
Gray Maynard would probably be called upon to step in, but he really needs another win before becoming a truly viable challenger. Specifically, a win over Pettis would get him there.
It should, perhaps, be obvious, but Pettis vs. Maynard should come before Pettis vs. Aldo. It’s a meaningful, if not blockbuster fight that would establish an undisputed lightweight contender and leave the 145-pound division to raise a deserving contender on its own.
If Pettis beat Maynard, he could fight for the lightweight title. If he lost, maybe he could pull an Edgar and drop down, though he’d likely need one win before garnering a date with Aldo.
If Pettis and Dana White are firmly set on Aldo for his next opponent, a catchweight fight would be best, but that would still do nothing for the logjam at featherweight, nor the title picture at lightweight. All it would do is preserve an undisputed featherweight champion regardless of the result.
When it comes down to it, Pettis vs. Aldo is an awesome matchup that is shaping up to happen at the wrong time. It may dazzle for 25 minutes, but it will produce significant, lasting collateral damage.
Still, it’s difficult not to want. I remain intrigued, even perceiving the situation as I do.
I know the fight is an impetuous indulgence—one that will probably happen a couple years from now anyway—but I still want it now. I know it handcuffs four or five deserving featherweight contenders, but I still want it. I know that it could ruin the best lightweight fight of 2013, but I still want it.
I also want ice-cream for breakfast every morning, a mystical talking pet tiger that dispenses sage advice whenever I’m in need and a hover car with a built-in Dominos Pizza restaurant in the backseat.
I want all this, but unfortunately, none of it really makes sense. And neither does Pettis vs. Aldo.
(“Progidy.” “The 30-something Randy Couture of the 40-something crowd.” “I don’t speak-a the Portuguesa.” “Leg kick to the midsection.” All the classics are here. / Props: zombie00713 via MiddleEasy)
(“Progidy.” “The 30-something Randy Couture of the 40-something crowd.” “I don’t speak-a the Portuguesa.” “Leg kick to the midsection.” All the classics are here. / Props: zombie00713 via MiddleEasy)
Sometimes all it takes is one conversation for cooler heads to prevail.