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.

Countdown to UFC 142 Aldo vs Mendes

Check out the Countdown to UFC 142 Aldo vs Mendez on Youtube.

UFC 142 Aldo vs. Mendes Back in Brazil

The UFC will make its return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 14 with a fight card that will be headlined by a featherweight title fight. UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo (20-1) will fight in front of a Brazilian crowd for the first time since 2007, when he defends his title against the unbeaten Chad Mendes (11-0).

The co-main event of the evening will feature a middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson.

The only loss of Aldo's career came in 2005 when he was stopped in the second round by a Luciano Azevedo rear naked choke. Since that loss, Aldo has gone on a 13-fight winning streak, capturing the WEC featherweight title by defeating Cub Swanson in June 2009. When the WEC folded, Aldo was named UFC champion. Since transitioning to the UFC Aldo has defended his title twice, defeating Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian.

Aldo's opponent, Chad Mendes has compiled a 6-0 record while fighting under the Zuffa umbrella, with his last win coming against Rani Yahya at UFC 133, which took place in August 2011.

The middleweight co-main event will see Anthony Johnson compete in that weight division for the first time, as he moves up from the 170 pound division, a weight that he had struggled to make in the past. His opponent, UFC veteran Vitor Belfort, is looking to use a win over Johnson to launch his name into the mix for a shot at the middleweight title.

Champ Aldo says lifelong wrestler Maynard has him well-prepared for UFC 142

If anything else, everything boils down to training for Jose Aldo.

The UFC featherweight champion believes he's found areas where opponent Chad Mendes is exposed to his brand of violence, and he admits there are places – one, really – where he'd like to avoid.

"But really what it comes down to being well-trained and seeing if the training was well worth it, and if what I saw was really going to (help me) impose my game," Aldo today said through translator Derek Lee.

Aldo (20-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) looks to make the third defense of his UFC title when he meets Mendes (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in the headliner of UFC 142 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The bout caps the pay-per-view main card while preliminary-card bouts air live on FX.

The Brazilian champ invited Gray Maynard to his camp to help prepare for that place he wants to avoid and that is the mat. Although Aldo's camp, Nova Uniao, wrestles on a regular basis, the training lacks the perspective brought from an American with such a decorated amateur resume as the two-time lightweight challenger's.

"We've been training wrestling for some time, but I needed a well-versed guy who's been training wrestling his whole life to kind of clear up things," Aldo said. "I felt like Gray coming down in these past few weeks really gave me a lot of pointers and helped me out for this fight, where I am facing a wrestler.

"And Gray's a great guy. He gives his pointers before and after training, and he's really helped everyone in the gym."

Mendes said that Aldo's new partner won't keep him from taking the fight to the ground. The Team Alpha Male fighter and former amateur wrestler hasn't lost a round in 17 months and three fights, largely because he's been able to control opponents on the ground.

Aldo, who held the WEC title before the promotion was folded into the UFC, was put on his back several times by Mark Hominick in his first UFC title defense at UFC 129. Hominick is a far less decorated grappler than Mendes. But it was also revealed later that the champ was badly hobbled by a tough weight cut and pre-existing injuries that hampered his performance.

Still, Aldo's weaker point is in grappling. Despite that, he isn't worried about being able to subdue Mendes with striking.

"I feel I've been able to find a few things, and I'm working on that," he said. "We'll have to see on the 14th."

Moving to lightweight is still a consideration for the champ, but he's still undecided when he'll throw in the towel at featherweight.

"That's something I've considered a lot," Aldo said. "But really, the right time is going to come, and I'm going to trust my coach, Andre Pederneiras, and my managers, who are looking at it from a different point of view of knowing when to make that move, if ever.

"It's something I've considered, but I trust their judgement. I feel I'm a young guy and have a lot to learn, so I've got to trust the people around me."

That includes those who have helped him prepare for next Saturday's fight. Not even his surroundings are distracting him. As a resident of Rio and native of Manaus, Brazil, the event is a sort of homecoming for Aldo. But for now, he's just focused on his preparation.

"It means everything to me to be fighting in Brazil," he said. "This is where everything started; it's where I got my start, and I'm really happy to be coming back as a champion in the UFC. But really, I can't focus on that. I've got to go back to training and do what I've done."

More news and updates on UFC 142 until fight time only on The Pinoy Fighter.

UFC 142 Extended Preview with Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes

After the success of the UFC's last trip to Brazil, they are returning again to the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro January 14 and bringing a stacked card filled with exciting strikers and submission artists. It will be headlined by UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Aldo will be taking on top contender Chad Mendes, who many consider to be his toughest test to date. In what could be Aldo's last fight in the 145-pound weight class, he will have to make a statement in his home country and defeat an undefeated fighter in the process.

In the co-main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort will face former welterweight contender Anthony Johnson in a middleweight bout.

Belfort is coming off his first-round knockout victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama, while Johnson was last seen defeating Charlie Brenneman, also by first-round knockout.

During the last UFC card in Brazil, 11 of the 12 bouts ended with a Brazilian emerging victorious. The fighters on this card will be looking to make it perfect this time around.

Other main card bouts include Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio, Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater and Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim.

This is gonna be awesome!