Dana White Dismisses Catchweight Talk, Says José Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis Would Be at Lightweight
The potential match-up between current UFC featherweight champion José Aldo and lightweight champ Anthony Pettis won't happen at any weight other than 155 pounds, UFC president Dana White said on Wednesday night.
After some discussions with involved parties in the deal-making process, White put internet chatter about the fight being a catchweight to rest.
“There's no disagreement over the weight. They're going to fight at 155 pounds,” White said on FOX Sports Live. “What would happen is Aldo would have to give up his title, vacate the 145-pound title, and move up to 155.”
A report from a Brazilian news outlet earlier on Wednesday said that Aldo's coach and manager, Andre Pederneiras, sees a catchweight bout of 150 pounds as “interesting” because both fighters would have to opportunity to keep their belts.
White said he hadn't read the report, but insisted that he had ironed out whatever problems there were relating to the fight earlier in the day.
The concern, White said, was Aldo worrying about not getting compensated at lightweight the same way he's been getting paid at featherweight. However, there's nothing Aldo should be concerned about, he explained.
“I think what Aldo was worried about is that if Aldo moves up to 155 and vacates the title, he wants to be treated like a champion in this fight, which he would be,” White said. “He would be paid like a champion would be paid going into a fight. All the things he gets at 145 pounds as a champion, he would receive. I think that was part of the issue and that was all worked out today.”
White and Aldo said last weekend at the UFC 169 post-fight press conference that a fight with Pettis is something they want to make happen. No announcements were made, however, about when and where the fight would take place.
Pettis is currently recovering from an injury that kept him out of action for the later part of 2013. His return isn't expected any time sooner than the second half of 2014.
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