Editor’s Note: Thanks to Akhilesh Gannavarapu and our friends at SportsKeeda.com for providing us with his interview with UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo.
Before Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes throw punches inside the Octagon this Saturday, my colleague Ratish Menon and I had the pleasure of interviewing the UFC Featherweight champion. Here’s a transcript of our interview.
LWOS: You have been the Featherweight champion for a very long time and undefeated in the UFC since you joined the promotion, back in 2010. What continues to motivate you to keep fighting in the Featherweight division?
Jose Aldo: The records and my goals is what continues to motivate me for today to keep fighting and keep going back to the gym, and I have a lot of things to look forward to.
LWOS: You being one of the most well rounded fighters in MMA today, it is a little known fact that you started off in the Brazilian martial art of apoeira. Did it help at all with your transition into MMA, considering how advanced your striking prowess is?
JA: I don’t know how it really translates into MMA. It could have influenced a lot on my kicks and everything but my first martial art was jiu jitsu.
You are the only Brazilian champion fighting in the UFC at present, which is strange considering not too long ago, the American promotion had most of its champions hailing from Brazil. What do you attribute the lessened dominance to?
JA: I think we are in a phase that’s not been very favourable for the Brazilians but I think there are a lot of them very close to fighting for the titles. So the shift is coming soon.
LWOS: With your close friend and training partner Renan Barao failing to make weight and missing his title opportunity against T J Dillashaw 2 months ago, team Nova Uniao received a lot of flak for the whole thing. Given how close you are with Barao, what went wrong in your opinion?
JA: It was weird (what happened to Barão). He has always made weight in every fight he has had. I still don’t know what happened there, because we didn’t have time to talk about this (Barão is resting in his hometown), but I know that he is very anxious to be back. Again… I was not there with him so it is really hard to explain what went wrong.
LWOS: You have been known to be a big featherweight and have talked about moving up to Lightweight. How long do you think you can cut weight to make the 145lbs mark and do it safely?
JA: Making it to 145lbs right now is okay for me. I don’t have any problems cutting weight and as long as I can cut weight safely, it’s not going to be an issue and I’m not going to have to move up.
LWOS: Chad Mendes, your opponent at UFC 179 has been the most dominant fighter after you in the UFC featherweight division. Given the controversy following your last fight with him, how differently are you viewing the upcoming match-up?
JA: I really don’t see any change. I think that he might be more experienced, and who knows? He might be a little more self confident, but other than that nothing changes. The training camp has been great and I did everything I had to do, and I did it correctly. Everyone’s going to see the game plan on fight night. I see the fight plan out the way I wanted to and I think I’ll maintain the pace of the fight and hopefully (end it) quickly, and if I do not do it quick, then that’s not a problem either. I’ll be ready to go for 5 rounds.
LWOS: Your takedown defense is among the best in MMA today. Not coming from a college wrestling background, do you attribute that to your Luta Livre training? Could you talk about how effective is Luta Livre in MMA today, compared to the other styles?
JA: I have always had it ingrained from my coach that wrestling is very important in MMA. If you want to keep the fight standing, you have to be able to protect the take downs and if you want to keep it on the ground then you got to be able to take him down. It’s something I have always worked on since the beginning of my career.
LWOS: A potential grudge match with Anthony Pettis has been in talks for a long time. With him returning from injury and fighting next month, are you still interested in that match-up? If it happens, would it take place at lightweight or catchweight?
JA: It is something that’s always been there and it’s something I thought about a lot. But today I think it’s something that’s past and I really don’t think about Anthony Pettis.
LWOS: After his strong showing at UFC 178, Irish fighter Conor McGregor is the biggest thing in the MMA world right now and seemingly the next in line for a title shot against you. Have you been following his career and what do you think of the Conor McGregor hype-train?
JA: I see no problem with the hype. He’s been a smart guy. He promoted himself right. I don’t see anything very special about him as a fighter but I think that he did a good job promoting himself and see nothing wrong with that.
LWOS: Have you ever been to India and what are your impressions about the country? If given an opportunity, would you be open to doing a part of the camp here and learn some new things, given India’s rich tradition in the martial arts?
JA: I have never been to India and I really don’t know what my impressions are about the country or their rich tradition in martial arts. But yes, if I had the opportunity I’d love to go to India.
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