The battle between UFC Interim Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and the UFC is ongoing, now Aldo’s longtime coach, Andre Pederneiras has chimed in with his thoughts.
Pederneiras was recently spoke to MMA Junkie about the situation between his fighter and the UFC. He started off by talking about Aldo’s decision to potentially leave the sport.
“I tried to use arguments so that he’d think about it because I think sometimes you make emotional decisions and end up regretting them…I told him to think about it so we could talk. I’ve been talking to him since, but his mind is made up. I can’t tell him ‘You’re doing it because I want you to do it. Aren’t I like a father? So I’m ordering you to do it.’ I won’t do that,” said Pederneiras.
Coach Pederneiras moved onto talk about how he felt the promotion that Aldo has competed in for so long had wronged the longtime featherweight champion.
“I think they lacked truth in the situation,” Pederneiras said. “When you promise something and you don’t deliver, you can even get a new chance – but the problem was the number of times it happened. I’m(UFC President) Dana White’s biggest defender. I always tell my athletes we need to trust him, because what he and Lorenzo (Fertitta, former UFC CEO) did for the sport – I don’t think anyone else could have. But I can’t defend him and then just let him off the hook. Just because I’m friends with him and I like him and I appreciate what he’s done for the sport doesn’t mean I’ll say he’s right about everything. The situation with Aldo, specifically – the UFC acted totally wrong.”
One of the biggest complaints against Aldo, by the UFC and others in the MMA world, has been the occasional lack of promotion for his fights, something the coach spoke about as well.
“I think there’s something that wasn’t built correctly in the UFC,” Pederneiras said. “Just because they built the UFC, doesn’t mean that everything they do is right. (The word promoter) entails promoting the event and the athlete. How many big athletes has the UFC made to sell more than 1 million pay-per-views? And how many athletes does the UFC have? Is it Aldo’s fault that he doesn’t sell? Is it Aldo’s fault because he doesn’t speak English? Don’t the others speak English? And do they sell? Weren’t they champions? Why don’t they sell? Is it the fighter’s fault, or the promotion’s? Taking the blame from me and placing it on you – that’s the best of worlds, isn’t it? I, the promotor, have 500 people, and only two or three sell. Am I a good promoter, or is it the athlete’s fault? I can be wrong with one, but with 497? Aldo never refused to do promotion. He was traveling all over with (McGregor) for 10 days. He unfortunately broke his rib and the fight didn’t happen. I don’t want a weight that Aldo doesn’t deserve to carry to be thrown upon him – a guy who did what few did in the UFC.”
Aldo and his representatives will be meeting with UFC officials this Wednesday, Pederneiras talks about what he would like to see happen at the meeting.
“We’re going to sit down and talk and explain he doesn’t want it anymore,” Pederneiras said. “He doesn’t want to fight in the UFC anymore. Forget any athlete you can think of. His idea is to stop. Not Pettis, not Jon Jones, no one. The problem is that Aldo still has six fights on his contract. And today’s situation might be different tomorrow. I told him, ‘We need to resolve this situation today, because now you want to do something with soccer. But then if tomorrow you change, say tomorrow comes with a truckload of money and you’ll have to say no because you’re still under contract with the UFC.’”
Aldo and UFC officials will be meeting this coming Wednesday to discuss his future in both the UFC and MMA, stay tuned to Fightful as we will provide updates on this situation.
