Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo says he’s had an easier time cutting down to bantamweight than he has for featherweight.
Aldo, 33, always has looked pretty gaunt when making the 145-pound limit, so when he announced that he was dropping down to 135, it caused quite a bit of concern. But Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was able to prove the naysayers wrong when he hit the mark in his bantamweight debut against Marlon Moraes last December.
Now he’s preparing to fight Petr Yan for the vacant 135-pound title next week at UFC 251. Aldo is currently in a mandatory two-day quarantine period in Sao Paulo before he flies out to Abu Dhabi for fight week. Although circumstances aren’t ideal, Aldo revealed that the cut down to 135 pounds has been smooth.
“These two days here in Sao Paulo are definitely gonna get in the way of my weight cut a little bit,” Aldo told ESPN. “But I bought a rope to jump, and I’m gonna go in the jacuzzi in the room or whatever. I’m gonna be able to stay active, but I’m happy to be a part of this, and the cut for 135 has actually been a lot easier than it was at 145.”
Although he was edged out in a controversial split decision loss to Moraes, Aldo looked good going the full 15 minutes at a high pace with relative ease. Many people scored the fight in Aldo’s favor, and he was awarded a title shot against now-former champion Henry Cejudo on May 9. However, he was forced out of the bout due to travel restrictions in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the belt now vacant following Cejudo’s recent retirement, Aldo was booked against Yan. Just days away from the showdown, he’s feeling good.
“We adapted everything for me to move down in weight so my nutrition and everything else, and I really feel like I rejuvenated my body,” Aldo said. “It gave me a lot of energy, so I’m keeping my weight down more than I was before, and so that cut down to 135, I’m still feeling a lot better after that cut.”
