UFC champ Jose Aldo fires back, asks Dana White to book Anthony Pettis fight

UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (23-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) doesn’t appreciate the suggestion that he might be afraid of fighting new lightweight kingpin Anthony Pettis (17-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC). In fact, Aldo said he’s not even afraid of fighting heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez.

“Going out and brawling is a pleasure for me, regardless of who I’m facing, no matter the weight division,” Aldo told Brazilian outlet Combate in his native Portuguese. “Schedule me to face Cain and you’ll see that there will be a brawl, regardless of the weight.”

Aldo’s comments are a result of UFC President Dana White’s recent claims that the featherweight champ’s manager, Andre Pederneiras, was making his client look “afraid of Anthony Pettis” by suggesting “Showtime” should drop his newly minted belt if he wants to schedule a champion vs. champion fight.

The two, of course, were supposed to fight for Aldo’s belt at August’s UFC 163 event before a knee injury forced Pettis to withdraw and instead take a UFC 164 fight with then-lightweight-champ Benson Henderson. Like he did when the two met for the WEC belt, Pettis earned a victory and walked away with the title.

After the win, Pettis called out Aldo, saying the two had “unfinished business,” which prompted Pederneiras to take to Twitter and offer up a few requests.

Aldo doesn’t seem to echo the same sentiments, and appears to want the bout re-booked ASAP, with White figuring out what works best.

“The only things I fear in this life are God and not having food to eat,” Aldo said. “If a heavyweight wanted to fight me on the streets, would I ask him what his weight was? No. So you can schedule this s—, and let’s stop this ‘blah, blah, blah.’

“This is the fight we want to watch. Let’s make it happen, Dana.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.