Jose Aldo's head trainer says he has 'no choice but to fight' for UFC

Disgruntled UFC interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo flirted with the idea of retirement after watching a rematch with Conor McGregor end up being shelved in favor of the Irishman going for the lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. But perhaps cooler heads have prevailed as Aldo’s coach, Andre Pederneiras, recently suggested that we could see Aldo back in the Octagon early next year.

In an interview with Combate, Pederneiras explained that it’s highly unlikely that Aldo’s request to be released from his UFC contract would be granted and he’s left with “no choice but to fight.”

“Right now we have this Pettis vs. Holloway fight, and there’s Conor’s decision, too,” Pederneiras said. “We can only know what’s going to happen after that. Aldo wants to retire in order to do other things, but in these talks we had with the UFC, it became quite clear that they will not let him go to pursue that. There’s no choice but to fight.”

Aldo has been looking to avenge his shocking knockout loss to McGregor last December that saw the bombastic featherweight finish him off in 13 seconds. Since then, Aldo has openly called for a rematch but had to sit idle and watch as McGregor engaged in a pair of welterweight fights with Nate Diaz. Just when he thought that McGregor would return to unify the featherweight titles, McGregor was offered the opportunity to face Alvarez for the lightweight championship and make history as the first UFC fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two weight classes.

Aldo put together an excellent performance at UFC 200 in beating Frankie Edgar to become the interim featherweight champion and hasn’t fought since. It’s possible that he will have the interim tag removed if McGregor becomes lightweight champion. And if that’s the case, there is an intriguing fight with the winner of Pettis-Holloway, who square off at UFC 206. Either way, Aldo will wait to see how these fights turn out and see what options are on the table.

“It’ll depend on the outcomes of these two fights: Pettis vs. Holloway and Conor vs. Alvarez,” Pederneiras said. “I don’t know what Conor will decide, but I believe February or March would be a good date to face him. They are fighting now, so there would be a good three-, four-month break.”