Jose Aldo Hints At Big Announcement Following McGregor Fight
Dominant UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is headed for the most anticipated bout of 2015 when he faces streaking Irish superstar Conor McGregor in the main event of July 11’s UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada,
But after that, “Junior” has some more huge plans in the works.
The seven-time defending champion recently told Sherdog.com that after he beats “Notorious” at UFC 189, he has a big announcement that he and the UFC will unveil to the public.
“One step at a time. I have a tough fight with McGregor, and that´s my goal now. After that fight, you will know what is gonna happen. The UFC knows, I know, and everything is already set.
“As soon as I beat McGregor, you will know what´s gonna be my next step.”
Interesting. Speculation as to just what that would be will most likely center around his oft-discussed super fight with lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, whom he was scheduled to face at August 2013’s UFC 163 before “Showtime” injured his knee.
Recently he’s also been challenged by bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, who knocked off his Nova Uniao teammate and good friend Renan Barao at UFC 173 last year.
According to Aldo, neither Dillashaw nor Pettis will even have the belts necessary to set up a super fight with him by the time UFC 189 rolls around. Not surprisingly, he believes a prime Barao will regain the belt from Dillashaw at April 25’s UFC 186. Apparently he’s requested many super fights but those requests have not been approved:
“It would be a dream to unify belts in other divisions, but Renan Barao is in his prime now and will beat him. As far as unifying belts in other divisions, I made that request many times but it was never granted. I would deserve that first.”
The transcendent striker also picked his Brazilian countryman Rafael dos Anjos’ evolving skills to upset “Showtime” and become the first Brazilian lightweight champion at tonight’s (Sat., March 14, 2015) UFC 185:
“Rafael is showing a great evolution lately, and I believe he has the tools to beat Pettis,” Aldo said. “I really expect that, because Brazil never had a champion in that division.”
So the world’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter has a secret that would set the MMA world on fire should he get by “Notorious” in July.
Yet if neither Pettis nor Dillashaw has the belt, a super fight could probably be ruled out. It could mean that he is simply moving up to lightweight for good after years of draining weight cuts down to 145 pounds.
What is the enigmatic Aldo hinting at?
