At 28 years of age with 26 career fights and seven UFC featherweight title defenses behind him, Jose Aldo is opening up.
Usually reserved and quiet before, during and after fights, Aldo has been caught peeping out of his shell in recent months. As he noted in a recent interview with Globo's Combate (transcribed and posted by Bloody Elbow's Fernando Arbex and Zane Simon), Aldo is "getting a taste" for the pre-fight bad-mouthing, undoubtedly a response to the many verbal jabs of his next challenger, Conor McGregor.
Speaking with Combate, Aldo noted he now understands the benefit of talking trash before a fight to generate hype and excitement, but he fails to see how McGregor's actual fighting resume warrants a shot at the 145-pound title.
In expressing this concern, Aldo did not hold back, ripping the UFC rankings system as a whole.
"We have to be provocative to sell fights, talk more, to know we'll be more profitable. It's important," Aldo said. "But, if you talk about rankings, I think he's undeserving. But, the rankings serve no f-----g purpose, nobody f-----g respects it, so this fight is good for me because of the money."
In the interview, Aldo also tackled the hot-button issue of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in MMA. The UFC recently announced stricter year-round drug testing and more severe penalties for offenders, but Aldo is surprisingly unconcerned with the topic as a whole.
"From the sports side, we tend to look at them favorably," Aldo said. "I see no problem...But I think it's wrong when you try to gain an advantage over [someone] who is clean."
Despite the admission that PEDs do perhaps lend their users an unfair advantage inside the cage, Aldo quickly pointed out that few sports, if any, are totally free of PEDs. According to Aldo, doping in sports and in sporting events like the Olympics is not as big a deal as many fans and critics are cracking it up to be.
"If an athlete uses something or not, I don't see any problem," Aldo said. "I'm not going to crucify the guy if he is or isn't doped. That changes nothing to me. The same punch that hits a clean face hits a doped one."
Aldo's views are contrary to the general consensus throughout the sport right now. Several fighters have said the UFC's more rigorous drug testing should have been implemented a long time ago, and the public perception feels very anti-PEDs as a whole. The UFC's moves were met with few criticisms, so it's a bit strange to see Aldo on the other side of the fence on this issue.
"The more testing there is, the happier I am" - @RondaRousey on the new @UFC drug testing rules. via @FOXSportsLive https://t.co/4a6ZRnJPIt
— FOX Sports 1 (@FOXSports1) February 20, 2015
Still, it's nice to see the Brazilian champ opening up and shining the spotlight on himself. By the time his UFC 189 fight with McGregor rolls around on July 11, he may just discard that old shell for good.
