Whatever Jose Aldo decides to do next, he has options.
Jose Aldo may be eyeing up starting that dream career as a professional boxer, but he still has fights left on his UFC contract. Until he sees that out, he probably won’t be putting on the heavier gloves and stepping into the ring anytime soon.
Considering two of his last three bouts inside the Octagon have been unsuccessful title fights, Aldo is unlikely to get a rematch against Max Holloway next. Frankie Edgar looks likely to get the next crack at the Hawaiian’s belt.
However, Aldo has received a few fight offers since losing his belt to Max Holloway at UFC 212, most notably from Edson Barboza and Artem Lobov. Although a rematch against Cub Swanson has been discussed as his next move, another potential fight has presented itself from out of nowhere.
Not many people caught UFC Rotterdam, which actually turned out to be an excellent card, and even less saw the UFC Rotterdam guest fighter Q&A.
One of the fighters answering questions at the event was top lightweight Michael Johnson. After suffering back-to-back losses against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, Johnson told fans that he was ready to move down to featherweight for the first time in his career.
“I was thinking about making a move down to 145, because I’ve fought everybody in the top-10 at 155, I think it’s time for me to see some new faces in the cage.”
“Jose Aldo, he’s looking to get out of his contract, he’s a great champion, so I would love to go down to 145 and fight him. Anytime, anywhere. I’m hoping in December I’ll go down to Brazil and fight him. I just love good, exciting fights and he’s a guy that I would love to get in there with.”
If he can make weight comfortably, this could be a great match-up. Johnson is 1-4 in his last five and is in need of a fresh start in a new division while Aldo requires a big name for the first non-title fight in his UFC career. In theory, this would work quite well.
