Coach: Aldo Wasn’t Allowed To Fight For Lightweight Title Like McGregor
The Future of former long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo is currently unclear at the moment.
Heading into his highly anticipated showdown with Irish star the “Notorious” Conor McGregor at December 12’s UFC 194, “Scarface” had been the only featherweight champion in promotional history, looking to make the eighth consecutive defense of his strap.
In emphatic fashion, Aldo fell from his throne in just 13 seconds due to a vicious McGregor left hand.
Obviously wanting a rematch, Aldo’s camp isn’t happy with the fact that the “Notorious” one will be jumping up a weight class to challenge 155-pound king Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of March 5’s UFC 197.
McGregor will look to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles. According to Aldo’s long-time head coach Andre Pederneiras, “Scarface” asked to do the same for nearly four years, but was never given the treatment that the UFC’s golden boy has received:
“Concerning Aldo, we are just waiting to see what the future holds right now since McGregor has been allowed to keep the 145 title while being able to fight or the 155 title,” Pederneiras told Sherdog. “That is something that hasn’t happened before. I spent four years asking the UFC the same thing, to allow Aldo to keep his featherweight belt while going up and contesting at lightweight but it was never allowed. Now we see Conor get the OK on his first request.”
Given the fact that the Irish knockout artist is one of the biggest stars in UFC history, the move makes sense from a business stand point, but it’s also understandable why Aldo’s camp may not be too happy.
With the current state of the 145-pound division, what should be next for “Scarface”?
