ABU DHABI – Jose Aldo sees nothing controversial about his title shot at UFC 251.
Aldo, the former UFC featherweight champion, fights Petr Yan for the vacant bantamweight title in the co-main event Saturday. Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is coming off an unsuccessful bantamweight debut where he lost a split decision to Marlon Moraes in December. Although it was a controversial defeat, many didn’t agree with the merits of Aldo’s title shot as other top contenders coming off wins were available.
Aldo, the third fighter in UFC history to fight for a title off two consecutive non-title losses, is not concerned with the critics, though. He firmly believes he should be fighting for the vacant belt.
“I’m not worried about that,” Jose Aldo told MMA Junkie through a translator during a media scrum Wednesday. “I won that fight. Even the judges afterwards said they agree with me. I beat Marlon, who’s the No. 1 contender, so it doesn’t bother me at all. I deserve to be here.”
Whether or not the title shot was warranted, there’s no denying Aldo’s achievements and impact on the sport. Despite his success, the Brazilian is not ready to reminisce on his accolades as he still has work to do.
“It was always a dream of mine to be a champ in two different divisions,” Aldo said. “At first, I thought I was going to have to go up to lightweight, but now I’m down to bantamweight. I really do think one day when I stop fighting I’m going to be able to look back and see everything that I did.”
Aldo feels confident in his second drop to 135 pounds and, as of now, has no plans of returning to featherweight. All of his focus is on bantamweight.
