J. Aldo has three more fights left on his contract. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram josealdojunioroficial
In a press conference after UFC 232, UFC president Dana White stated that the duel between Jose aldo e Renato Moicano It was supposed to be the main fight, but the former featherweight champion asked for it not to be a five-round fight. In a meeting with the press, 'Scarface' revealed that the decision was not his, but that of his coach Dedé Pederneiras.
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“At no point did I deny anything. Anyone who didn't think that was good, and the one that took place over three or five rounds, was Dedé (Pederneiras), you can ask him. He closed the fight to three rounds because he wanted to, because he thought it was better. For me, it doesn't matter if I fight five, ten... I'll fight as many rounds as necessary, whether it's with Moicano or anyone else. For me there's no problem, I train for that, that's what I do every day. I train and I want to get in there and do my best. So, I wasn’t the one who said that at any point,” said Aldo on Thursday (16).
Pederneiras said that Aldo, during his career, starred in consecutive five-round fights and that today they end up weighing him down. With that in mind, Dedé stated that it doesn't make sense to put the former featherweight champion in a 25-minute fight, if it's not for the belt.
“There is a lot of wear and tear in what you do. So, when the person thinks: “Ah, but it’s only two more rounds”, no, it’s a totally different preparation (…). As there is no possibility of Aldo competing for the title, I explained all the considerations I had regarding this, and he agreed. If Ortega had won the fight (with the champion Max Holloway), this fight could be five rounds to boost it to be his next fight (for the belt), but even if Aldo accepts five rounds now and knocks him out in 30 seconds, the next one won't be for the title, everyone knows that” , explained the Nova União commander.
Even with the coach's opinion, Aldo guaranteed that training for a three- and five-round fight doesn't change much. Regardless of the time, the camps are intense and exhausting.
“For me it doesn't change much, I think we train a lot, and regardless of that we always do an extra round: if it's three rounds, we do four, so we're always close to five. If it's five, we'll do six. So, there's not much difference, “ah, it's going to decrease a lot”, no, it's still the same, both the physical and technical part, it's still up there in the same way. All training is hard, very exhausting”, concluded Aldo.
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