In a new interview with Combate, Nova União head coach Andre Pederneiras addressed the possibility of a rematch after Jose Aldo’s demise at the hands of current champion Conor McGregor at UFC 194.
There has been plenty of speculation regarding newly-crowned champion Conor McGregor’s next fight in the UFC and whether or not it will even be in the featherweight division. Some in the MMA world are in favor of Aldo getting an immediate rematch despite the 13 second bout, which resulted in a knockout loss for the longtime champion. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pederneiras is part of that group, and believes that Aldo should get another shot at the belt, especially an immediate one if McGregor moves up to lightweight and vacates the title (translation via MMAFighting):
“Well, I disagree,” Pederneiras said of the options for “The Notorious”. “They don’t care if I agree or not, but here’s what I say: I can’t see Aldo not fighting for a belt or not in an immediate rematch. It wouldn’t be fair if that doesn’t happen, but happen to others. ‘There’s no immediate rematch for anyone’, cool, we know what the rule is. ‘(There’s rematch) because she’s blond and sells well’? I’ll dye Aldo’s hair. Right?
“I don’t see other scenario than a new fight, so we can really have a fight. In my head, what happened wasn’t a fight, just a punch that landed and ended it quickly.”
Pederneiras also talked about how the fight might go differently a second time around:
“I think the ground would be a good option, but I don’t rule out a five-round, stand-up fight,” he said. “Aldo has strong blows, he can really hurt the opponent. In this fight, he was confident both standing and on the ground, he’ll be fine.”
The immediate future is uncertain for the former champion as he currently sits on the sidelines. As he recovers, there’s no word yet on what is likely for him, but we’ll be seeing him in action again soon enough, as Aldo is expected to make his return in April.
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