Jose Aldo hasn’t made many callouts in his career, but Thursday he did.
A former featherweight champion and bantamweight title challenger in the UFC, Aldo (31-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) is currently in the mix at 135 pounds as champion Aljamain Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) awaits his next challenge – a slot Aldo thinks should be his.
“Aljamain, I am waiting for you to sign the contract for our fight,” Aldo wrote on Twitter. “There is no doubt that the fans want to watch this fight. We are currently the 2 best bantamweights in the UFC.”
While Aldo calls to be next, the sense from the UFC brass is former champion T.J. Dillashaw (17-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will be next in line. Another former UFC bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC), has also entered discussions after he seemingly concluded his quasi-retirement earlier this month.
Aldo voiced his distaste for both of those options. He criticized Dillashaw for a failed drug test led to title relinquishment, then turned his attention to Cejudo who he claims “faked” retirement.
“Let the rest of the boys fighting each other and exchanging insults on the internet,” Aldo wrote. “In my opinion it does not make any sense to let a guy who got suspended for 2 years for cheating to come back and fight for the belt after winning a split decision in a fight I think he lost.
“… The other one is a clown who faked his retirement just to try to raise his purse – as that did not work now he want to fight for the title after spending 2 years out of the game (and out of the USADA’s pool). … So let’s fight for the title while they sell popcorn in the arena. Whoever sells more popcorn fights with whoever wins our fight. Deal? Let’s do this, Champ!”
Sterling has yet to respond at the time of publication but has stated multiple times since his successful UFC 273 title defense that Aldo is a name that interests him. Sterling has been largely noncommittal to Dillashaw, despite the seeming anglings by the promotion and other fighter.
Aldo, 35, does not have a fight on the books. He most recently competed in December when he defeated Rob Font via unanimous decision to extend his winning streak to three. Other recent victories include unanimous decisions over Pedro Munhoz and Marlon Vera.
Check out Aldo’s tweets below.
Aljamain,
I am waiting for you to sign the contract for our fight. There is no doubt that the fans want to watch this fight. We are currently the 2 best bantamweights in the UFC.— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) April 28, 2022
Let the rest of the boys fighting each other and exchanging insults on the internet. In my opinion it does not make any sense to let a guy who got suspended for 2 years for cheating to come back and fight for the belt after winning a split decision in a fight I think he lost.
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) April 28, 2022
The other one is a clown who faked his retirement just to try to raise his purse – as that did not work now he wants to fight for the title after spending 2 years out of the game (and out of the USADA’s pool).
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) April 28, 2022
So let’s fight for the title while they sell popcorn in the arena. Whoever sells more popcorn fights with whoever wins our fight.
Deal? Let’s do this, Champ!
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) April 28, 2022