Jose Aldo didn’t even get a chance to shine his belt on Saturday night before a former lightweight champion challenged him for the next crack at the title.
Just a week after his stunning knockout over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC on Fox 6, Anthony Pettis texted UFC President Dana White asking to face Aldo at 145lbs.
White announced at the UFC 156 post fight press conference that the former WEC champion didn’t waste any time to make his intentions known.
“Anthony Pettis said “I want to move to 145 and fight Jose Aldo”,” White revealed. “He just texted me 10 minutes ago. He’ll meet him at 145, so we’ll see what happens.”
Pettis is currently in line for a shot at the lightweight title following the next bout between champion Benson Henderson and former Strikeforce king Gilbert Melendez, but with their fight not taking place until April, it appears “Showtime” is itching for a title fight.
In the past, Pettis has hinted at a possible move to featherweight, and now it looks he’s throwing down the gauntlet and issuing the challenge to Jose Aldo.
While other featherweight contenders like Ricardo Lamas and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung are both right in line for potential title shots, the chance to get a competitor like Anthony Pettis into a bout with Jose Aldo would be hard to deny.
For his part, Aldo seemed to like the idea of facing Pettis in the future.
“It’s up to Dana, but I mean that is an interesting fight,” said Aldo. “I train to fight the best, I respect them all, I think to fight Pettis, he’s almost to a title shot in his own division, but it would be an interesting fight.”
Now it’s up to the UFC to decide if Aldo vs. Pettis is the fight to make next.