...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC President Dana White commented on the Jose Aldo-Anthony Pettis negotiations on Tuesday, clarifying some things on Fuel TV's "UFC Tonight" program about the nature of concessions that were made to the Featherweight Champion.
While it's true that Aldo will get a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship with a win over Pettis, there won't be any division hopping from there. He also added that Pettis himself won't be jumping back up to the lightweight division for a shot at the belt as he may have assumed.
"It wasn't difficult to get the fight," White said. "I called Andre [Pederneiras] yesterday and it took two minutes to get the fight done. He said that after Aldo beats Pettis, he wants to move up to 155 and fight there. I said that was fine, but one of the matchmakers called and said there was a misunderstanding, that he wants to go to 155, win the title, and go back to 145. That's not happening. If he moves to 155, he stays at 155 and he holds that belt. If Pettis wins the fight, Pettis is going to have to stay at 145 and defend that belt a couple of times."
Penick's Analysis: That's got to be relief to Ricardo Lamas and other fighters in the featherweight field, because an Aldo win means he'll drop the belt and move to Lightweight (according to White), and a Pettis win will mean they've got someone to fight next. At least, that's what White is saying here in March, and his tune may change come August. Pettis may not have been thinking about the possibility the UFC would want him to stay at 145 for awhile if he beats Aldo, but White's making his message clear on that. Again, at least for now.
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
