UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo says he wants to test himself and fight in other divisions after his next title defense.
“I want to test myself in new divisions. I want to test myself against new challenges, new athletes, do super fights,” Aldo told MMAjunkie. “The UFC is opening up that side now. Before, I’d tried to move up to lightweight and couldn’t. It didn’t work out. But not now.”
Aldo believes that if he fights in the lightweight division, as well as the featherweight, he will be more active and fight more often.
“I want to do super fights. I don’t necessarily want to challenge the champion. I want to do fights that allow me to stay active,” Aldo said. “A champion needs big opponents, bigger promotion processes and that gets in the way of a champion who wants to fight more times in a year.
“With super fights, I can do them and then fight in my division right after that. This is what I have in mind – fighting more often. I think the fans want to see Jose Aldo in action in the octagon more often. I want to do super fights, get new challenges, maybe challenge a lightweight, or for the title, but go back to my division and defend that too. I don’t want to get a belt and stop fighting. This is what I love doing. This is what I chose for myself, this is why I wake up early every day and go to the gym to give it my all at training. That’s why.”
Aldo is scheduled to defend his title on Saturday in the main event of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aldo will defend his title against Interim UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway.
