Anthony Pettis: Jose Aldo Is Next And That’s All I’m Focusing On
Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo will square off at UFC 163 this August, in a highly anticipated battle of the consensus best strikers in MMA. Aldo has dominated the Featherweight division in the UFC since joining the promotion in April 2011. Pettis is coming off a brilliant TKO win over Donald Cerrone, and before that he head kicked Joe Lauzon in to a living death (props to Ken Shamrock for that phrase).
Many thought that a rematch with Benson Henderson would be on the cards, especially seeing as Pettis took ‘Smooth’s’ LW title from him in the WEC, but instead he was paired off with the 145lb. king-Jose Aldo. Pettis was on hand to talk with Bleacherreport.com regarding the upcoming bout:
“I feel like my stand-up’s something he’s never seen,” Pettis said. “He’s not going to be able to find training partners that can do what I do. I’m used to the leg kicks. I’ve been kicked there since I was five, so I feel like my range is longer than him. I’m bigger than him, I can match him in speed and power and I’ve got a style like nobody else’s.”
Pettis makes a very good point, Aldo may not have had much training with TKD based MMA fighters, but one thing that Aldo has shown over the years is his fantastic ability to adapt to most fighter’s styles. Pettis continued:
“My whole career I’ve been fighting wrestlers,” Pettis stated. “If you look back, all of my fights have been against wrestlers. Give me some strikers in front of me and you see how I perform. Another great reason why I chose to fight Aldo: He’s a great fighter, he’s a stand-up guy and he’s going to test me.”
Aldo’s in my way, I can’t really think about ‘let’s move back to 55.’ Let’s see what happens at 45 first and then I’ll make my decision from there,” Said Pettis. “155 is my home. I’ve got a guy like Aldo in front of me, that’s enough for me to focus on. Jose Aldo is next and that’s all I’m focusing on.”
I’m very intrigued to see how this fight goes, a little voice is telling me that Aldo will be putting in a lot of wrestling prep. As great as Aldo is on the feet, will he really want to risk losing his title against such an elite and dynamic striker? Only time will tell. Stay tuned to Lwkick!
