Two-time UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo lost his title to Max Holloway at UFC 212 on June 3, but is already planning his next fight. The 30-year-old Brazilian is open to facing Cub Swanson in a rematch to determine the 145-pound No. 1 contender.
“Yes, Cub is an option,” Aldo told MMAFighting. “I think the ranking continues the same, there’s nowhere to run. Cub is well ranked, especially to be a challenge for me. Frankie (Edgar) will probably fight Max, so we can fight and a new contender will emerge.”
Aldo defeated Swanson in a No. 1 contender fight at WEC 41 in June 2009 and went on the hold the 145-pound title for six years before losing to Conor McGregor in December of 2015. In the time since losing to Aldo, Swanson has gone 12-4 and is currently riding a four-fight winning streak.
“It will be a new fight, a new story. I respect everything he’s been doing in the UFC, and we have to train a lot to face a really tough opponent,” said Aldo.
With the belt no longer around his waist, Aldo sees himself as entering the division for the first time again. Getting a title shot isn’t on is mind.
“First of all, I still don’t think about fighting for the belt or not,” he said. “I think it has restarted for me. It’s in the past. It is like if I was entering the division again. I want to come back to fighting, come back to winning, and then we can sit down and talk to see where I am.”
