Aldo and Pettis in a promotional photo for the duel that would take place at UFC Rio 4. Photo: Disclosure/ UFC Brasil
For years, superfights between two UFC champions or big names were always expected by fans and speculated by the press, but they rarely ended up coming to fruition. Once again the subject came up and, despite other suggestions, president Dana White stated that currently he can only think of a fight of such magnitude putting the Brazilian face to face. José Aldo, featherweight champion, and North American Anthony Pettis, holder of the lightweight title.
“The superfights we see now, in my opinion, would be like a José Aldo x Anthony Pettis. Even though Pettis has been injured for a while and hasn't defended his title yet, he defeated Ben henderson, who is a guy who had annihilated the entire division. He beat him, and won easily. José Aldo and Pettis have been talking about moving back and forth in order to take each other's belts. So, really, this is the only super fight I can think of”, said the manager during a question and answer session in Macau (China).
Dana took the opportunity to define his own concept of a superfight. “We've talked about superfights in the past and that for one reason or another didn't happen. When we talk about superfights, let's talk about what 'superfight' means. If you have Georges St Pierre x Anderson Silva, if you have Anderson Silva x Jon Jones or something like that, guys who kept their titles and almost cleared an entire division”, he pondered.
Upon hearing the proposition of a confrontation between Jon Jones e Georges St Pierre, the leader used good humor to rule out any hypothesis. “GSP and Jon Jones? There's a snippet there, my friend. There is a certain weight difference between these two guys. This wouldn't be a superfight. It would be a stupid fight. OK? What the Georges St Pierre made you want him dead? He weighs 77 kg and the other guy walks around weighing about 105 kg”, he replied.
José Aldo e Anthony Pettis They did not come close to each other in a valid fight for the featherweight belt. In August last year, the North American was injured shortly before challenging the Brazilian at UFC Rio 4 and ended up being transferred to the fight against Ben henderson, which ended up earning him the lightweight title. After a long period of inactivity due to surgery, Pettis puts his belt on the line for the first time on December 6, against Gilbert Melendez. Aldo tries his seventh consecutive title defense in the rematch against Chad Mendes, on October 25th, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).
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