Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed that he was offered a bout with Dominick Cruz at UFC 301.
"I was originally offered a bout with Dominick Cruz. Obviously that would have been good for me, for Dominick, for all the fans and media that have been pushing for this fight for so long. But Jonathan Martinez is a very difficult opponent and the important thing for me is that I look at every fight as a fight with the best and as the biggest challenge. That hasn't changed," - quotes Aldo MMA Junkie.
Recall, his next fight Jose Aldo will hold at UFC 301 against Jonathan Martinez.
Jose Aldo, former UFC featherweight champion, has spoken out about his boxing plans.
"I'm considering a big boxing fight, probably sometime later this year. But we'll discuss it with the UFC when the fight with Jonathan Martinez is over. A fight with Floyd Mayweather was pretty much a done deal. Ali Abdel-Aziz was the one who negotiated it, and I don't know what happened, but in the end we couldn't make the fight in Saudi Arabia. There's a big event coming up later this year on Netflix, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, and hopefully I can be a part of it. But we'll see. There are a lot of options," MMA Junkie quoted Aldo as saying.
The other day, Marlon Vera, former UFC flyweight title challenger, announced that he would like to fight former promotion's featherweight champion Peter Yan this November in New York City. Today, Yang responded to "Cheeto's" challenge.
"Let's be honest, if we had fought before, you would have never made it to a title fight. Everything has its time, and the time for your flogging will come soon," Yang wrote on his social networks.
Recall, in his last fight, Marlon Vera lost by unanimous decision to current flyweight champion Sean O'Malley. As for Yang, he defeated Chinese fighter Song Yadong at UFC 299, which took place on March 10.
Jose Aldo, former UFC featherweight champion, spoke about why he was ending his UFC fighting career for a while.
"I think I needed a break for my mind and body. Just because of the fact that I was demanding a lot from myself and because training had taken a lot out of me for the last 20 years. I found a discipline I could focus on, which was boxing, and I did it for a while to recover from all that pressure. I wanted to be a champion and every fight I had was very tough and demanded a lot from me. Now I feel like I've dealt with it and I can come back," MMAJunkie quoted Aldo as saying.
Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo said that in the upcoming fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler his sympathies will be on the side of the star Irishman.
The meeting between these fighters will be the main event of UFC 303, which will take place on June 29 in Las Vegas, USA.
"I always root for the guys I've fought and the guys who beat me because it proves that I lost to the best. I hope he can be the same old Conor, be aggressive and finish the fight .... I expect a lot from this fight," - quotes Aldo Championship Rounds.
Recall that in December 2015, Aldo lost to McGregor by knockout in 13 seconds.
American UFC lightweight veteran Michael Chandler compared the division's champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, the top-ranked fighter in the category.
"Of course, Arman knocked out Dariush, he's good in the parterre. You saw it in the fight against Oliveira. Tsarukyan is strong. But Islam has mashed up a lot of guys. He has a great calling in life, he believes he fights for more than just himself. He fights for the whole country, he fights for Khabib's legacy, Khabib's father's legacy. That's much more important and special. It instills fear in his opponents," Chandler said on The MMA Hour show.
We will remind, on June 1 at the UFC 302 tournament in Newark, USA, Makhachev will have a fight against Dustin Puryear.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards' trainer Dave Lavelle has spoken out about his charge's potential opponents - undefeated prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov and the promotion's lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev.
"In some ways, Makhachev's deficiencies have been exposed in his last few fights in terms of stamina. Islam wants to move up in weight, but it's unclear if he can handle it. Shavkat is a dangerous guy, but he has also been vulnerable in recent fights, although Rakhmonov thinks he can run over any opponent," the specialist said in an interview with talkSPORT.
Edwards' next fight is expected to be against Belal Muhammad in July at a tournament in Manchester.
UFC flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg believes former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is capable of earning an early victory over Hamzat Chimaev.
The Australian and the UAE-born Chechen will fight on June 22 in the main event of the UFC's debut event in Saudi Arabia.
"The outcome of the fight will depend on Whittaker's performance. If Robert fights like he did against Paulo Costa, he will emerge victorious. I think Whittaker has a good wrestling defense. He also has better standup defense than Hamzat. Robert will beat Chimaev and finish him in the late rounds," Erceg told MMA News.
American UFC lightweight division veteran Michael Chandler believes that division champion Islam Makhachev will be able to mount two successful defenses this year.
Arman Tsarukyan, the number one ranked lightweight in the UFC, reacted to the words of Islam Makhachev, the champion in the same division, regarding the disruption of their rematch.
Earlier, the Dagestani said that it's not the first time the Armenian fighter refuses to fight him.
"This is not true. The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to get an advantage. But that's not going to happen again. When was the last time you fought twice in six weeks?" - wrote Tsarukyan on social network X.
Recall that on April 13 at UFC 300, Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira by split decision of the judges before turning down an offer to fight Makhachev in June.
