UFC featherweight champion José Aldo admits he’d be interested in unifying the 145lb belts at UFC 208, after new interim champ Max Holloway called him out after defeating Anthony Pettis in Toronto last weekend.
It was Holloway’s coming out party at UFC 206 in Canada. After defeating Pettis via third round TKO the Hawaiian suggested a meeting with Aldo in Brooklyn, New York on February 11th would work for him. However, he soon backtracked at the post-fight press conference.
The hesitation it seems is all Aldo needed to launch an attack. “The date is certain,” Aldo retorted. “I’ll fight that day, whether it’s with him or somebody else. Whether he’ll show up or not is his problem.”
The uncertainty Aldo has towards Holloway is in relation to the comments Max made at Saturday’s post fight press conference. “I don’t want to give up my son’s birthday and Christmas for February 11, and (Aldo) don’t show up,” Holloway said. “This guy has a knack for not showing up to the fights.”
Aldo drew on his own personal experience having to miss important moments in his life in order to participate in big fights and feels Holloway should take advantage of this moment to unify the 145lb titles.
Aldo added: “I think everybody has a family. Everyone has kids, dates, everything. So if you want to be champion, there’s no such thing (as picking dates). I’ve fought events like Super Bowl (weekend) and trained during Christmas and New Year’s and it was never a problem for me.
“So it’s very easy to analyse and see who’s the one that’s not going to show up. This was already certain, like I said. It was certain, and the UFC already had these dates in mind. We just hadn’t announced it because (Holloway vs. Pettis) needed to happen first.”
