Jose Aldo targeting superfights after UFC 212 - ‘I want to test myself in new divisions’

Legendary UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will look to win yet another title fight tomorrow night (Sat., June 3, 2017) at UFC 212 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when he takes on interim champion Max Holloway. With a 10-fight win streak under his belt, Holloway represents the very best at 145 pounds that Aldo has to fight. But after UFC 212, Aldo may have to journey elsewhere to find the big fights he’s looking for at this stage in his career.

Here is what Aldo had to say during a recent interview with MMA Junkie:

“I want to test myself in new divisions. I want to test myself against new challenges, new athletes, do super fights. The UFC is opening up that side now. Before, I’d tried to move up to lightweight and couldn’t. It didn’t work out. But not now.”

“I just negotiated two fights. The opponents (lightweight contenders Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov) didn’t take them, but I know it’s a lot closer. I have to keep that going. I have to stay motivated. I have to win the fight, and this way I know I can make these challenges.”

Remember, Aldo was briefly linked to a fight with lightweight top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, but that bout never came to fruition. If Aldo is able to starch Holloway at UFC 212 this weekend he would open the door to bigger superfights one division up, especially considering the featherweight class doesn’t offer much new competition for the Brazilian.

Aldo expanded on his desire to move up in weight:

“I want to do super fights. I don’t necessarily want to challenge the champion. I want to do fights that allow me to stay active. A champion needs big opponents, bigger promotion processes – and that gets in the way of a champion who wants to fight more times in an year.

“With super fights, I can do them and then fight in my division right after that. This is what I have in mind – fighting more often. I think the fans want to see Jose Aldo in action in the octagon more often. I want to do super fights, get new challenges, maybe challenge a lightweight, or for the title, but go back to my division and defend that too. I don’t want to get a belt and stop fighting. This is what I love doing. This is what I chose for myself, this is why I wake up early every day and go to the gym to give it my all at training. That’s why.”

Aldo will never say he’s chasing UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor with a move up to 155 pounds in the future, but it is the quickest way the Brazilian can get his hands on “Notorious” for a rematch. But even if McGregor eludes Aldo at lightweight, the 155-pound crop offers a slew of top-flight options for Aldo in 2018.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 212 fight card, starting with the Fight Pass "Prelims" matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.