Jose Aldo On Bantamweight Title Shot: “I Deserve To Be Here”

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has hit back at critics who questioned his bantamweight title shot at UFC251.

Speaking during his virtual media day interview Aldo told MMA Junkie that he believes he won his bantamweight debut and deserves to be in this title fight.

“I’m not worried about that, I won that fight. Even the judges afterward said they agree with me. I beat Marlon, who’s the No. 1 contender, so it doesn’t bother me at all. I deserve to be here.”

Following this, the long time reigning featherweight champion shared that being a two-division champion is something that has been on his mind for some time.

“It was always a dream of mine to be a champ in two different divisions,” Aldo said. “At first, I thought I was going to have to go up to lightweight, but now I’m down to bantamweight. I really do think one day when I stop fighting I’m going to be able to look back and see everything that I did.”

Aldo takes on rising bantamweight star Petr Yan for the vacant title at UFC 251. Originally Aldo was scheduled to face Henry Cejudo for this title at UFC249 however, due to travel restrictions he was unable to take part in this matchup, which saw Dominick Cruz return to take his place.

After his victory over Cruz, Cejudo announced his retirement which immediately saw eyes turn to Yan and Aldo as the two contenders facing off for the vacant title.

Upon his Bantamweight debut, there were critics that didn’t believe Aldo would be able to make the cut to 135 pounds, however, Aldo was able to do it in that fight and told Sherdog he believes he is absolutely able to continue doing so.

“I’m feeling better than ever,” Aldo said. “I adapted my body again and that changed my whole life for the better. And I’m talking not only about professional life but also my personal life. Today I’m a new Aldo who has a much better life. You can bet I’m much stronger and faster than anyone in that division in the UFC.”