Jose Aldo Will Only Move to Lightweight for nothing less than a Title Shot

UFC 142 answered many questions surrounding Jose Aldo's pound-for-pound status, but his thoughts on moving up another weight class have yet to be revealed.

Since entering the UFC last year, Aldo has reigned among the featherweight division and dominated every opponent in front of him. Like most world-class champions, Aldo's talent is evidently superior to the rest of his opposition, and perhaps a change of scenery would be more beneficial to the 25-year-old Brazilian.

However, Aldo's coach and head trainer of Nova Uniao, Andre Pederneiras, doesn't believe the time is right for the UFC featherweight champion to step up to 155 pounds.

“It won’t happen for now, unless he goes straight for a title shot," Pederneiras said.

During the UFC 142 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White appeared to be open to the idea of seeing Aldo challenge for the UFC lightweight title in the future. However, White said he will let Aldo and his camp make the final decision.

“I would have no problem with him staying at his weight now and defending his title there or moving to 155 pounds, whatever he feels like he wants to do,” White said.

Aldo's stunning knockout of Chad Mendes left the NCAA Division 1 wrestler in a crumpled heap on the canvas, and it also left the state of the division in limbo, as some critics felt Mendes was one of the few fighters who could potentially present problems to Aldo with his speed and wrestling ability.

But his victory was not to be outdone, as Aldo sprinted into the crowd to celebrate with those in attendance at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Pederneiras said it was something he expected out of the champion.

“I expected him to do something stupid, especially here,” he joked. "He did [the same thing] in San Diego and he had to hear a lot from the commission staff. But here, with all that crowd, I knew.”

Aldo is making his way towards being one of the UFC's marketable fighters and with more events to be held outside the United States, especially in Brazil, Aldo can certainly become one of the top fighters in the pound for pound rankings but also as a major draw for the organization.

Ken-Flo's Career could be Over

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight title challenger Kenny Florian may see his career as a mixed-martial-artist come to an abrupt end after suffering a back injury, according to an interview with the Boston Herald.

The 35-year-old suffered a lumbar herniated disc in his lower back while weight training late last year. An unsuccessful attempt at winning the 145-pound title against reigning champion Jose Aldo in October had Florian considering a move back to lightweight.

“It’s possible, unfortunately,” Florian said. “I’ve kind of been going back-and-forth with some of the doctors, so it’s possible. I’m going to see. As of right now, obviously I can’t compete and train like I was at all. I’m just kind of doing what I can and hoping that things heal up and get better. I’m just kind of in a holding pattern. That’s why I decided to do this commentary for the time being and take this next six months to really heal up and try to make some money on the side. It sucks. The last couple of months I’ve just been figuring out what’s going on and what I’m going to do.”

If Florian is unable to continue competing due to the injury, there will always be a career as a commentator for the UFC. It's something he has done before, and many fans like to hear a new voice every once and a while. Events where Florian has commentated include UFC 83, Ultimate Fight Night 19 and UFC 134. He also has done commentator work for the WEC.

“It’s not good,” Florian continued. “That’s why I’m trying to stay hopeful. We’ll see. I’ve been out here in (Los Angeles) doing this show every week for ‘UFC Tonight’ for Fuel TV and doing some other things. I’m just hoping that it can heal up and get better and then see if I can go back to doing what I was doing. So far, I still need to rest. If I go to do something physical, I’m just not able to do it. That pain is coming back.”

Florian's record stands at 14-6 with wins over Clay Guida, Takanor Gomi, Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta, Joe Lauzon and Sam Stout. His attempts at UFC titles came against BJ Penn, Sean Sherk and Aldo.

Card for UFC 144 in Japan is now complete

The highly awaited return of the UFC in Japan, scheduled for February 26, has finally taken full form as the UFC finalized the remaining bouts.

The event which will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between number one contender Ben "Smooth" Henderson and Champion Frankie "The Answer" Edgar.

The full UFC 144 card:

UFC Lightweight Championship: Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson

Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader

Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields

Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon

Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch

Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell

Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso

Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos

Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski

Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia

The card looks really great and there are a lot of potential fights that could go for fight of the night honors.

I can't wait for this card to come, then again I always can't wait for the next UFC event that comes around.