Jose Aldo, Jeremy Stephens want UFC fight against each other; question is when

With Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens on board with fighting each other, it appears a few details have yet to be hashed out, specifically the date.

Speaking to Brazil’s Combate News, former featherweight champion Aldo said he was looking at his adopted home of Rio de Janeiro, which hosts UFC 224 on May 12, to stage his return following back-to-back losses to champ Max Holloway.

“We’re trying to land a spot there,” Aldo said. “I was supposed to have fought in April; it didn’t happen. So we’re just waiting on the opponent.”

Could that opponent be Stephens, who’s fresh off a big knockout win over Josh Emmett?

“For sure,” Aldo said. “He’s a guy who asked to fight us. I’ve already sent Dana (White, UFC president) a message saying I want this fight. I think it’s a great fight, and I’m just waiting to hear back.”

While he didn’t use many words, Stephens (28-14 MMA, 15-13 UFC) responded by expressing his interest in meeting Aldo (26-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) via Twitter on Friday.

Judging by the lone hashtag that served as the caption to Stephens’ tweet, it appears he prefers UFC 225, which takes place June 9 at United Center in Chicago.

UFC 224 already has its main event set, with bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes putting her belt on the line against Raquel Pennington. UFC 225 does not have an official headliner as of now, but a report by BJPenn.com, later confirmed by MMAFighting.com, indicates a rematch between middleweight champ Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero is close to a done deal.

In any case, not being involved in a headliner or a title bout would mean Aldo’s first time preparing for a three-round fight since 2009. All of his bouts since, both at the defunct WEC and the UFC, had title implications. Aldo also comes into it riding his first losing skid.

Stephens, too, comes off a career first. He would have his first chance of getting a fourth straight win since joining the UFC in 2007.

For more on UFC 224 and UFC 225, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.