Aldo with his team's flag at weight-in / Photo: Josh Hedges
This 25th José Aldo will take off for Canada, where he will defend his title at UFC 129. The date for his flight was planned carefully, due to a commitment of the utmost importance.
A staunch supporter of Flamengo soccer club, the UFC featherweight champion will attend the Flamengo-Fluminense derby this Sunday, where his team will vie for theTaça Rio cup, the second leg of the Rio de Janeiro state championship. At the invitation of the team’s board of directors, the fighter will be introduced to team president Patrícia Amorim.
“Every chance I get I go to the stadium to be with the fans, to sing and cheer with them. I was born in Manaus and became a red-and-black fan thanks to a friend of mine. It will be a great honor to meet the president, a great day,” the fighter is quoted as saying on the Flamengo official website, where he makes the most of the opportunity to give his team’s players some advice.
“When facing a tough opponent, I tend to focus a lot and think of everything I went through in getting to the fight. I think back to the training, the work I went through. So that’s my advice to the players. When they step onto the pitch they have to remember what they trained to do, they have to be confident and show what they know. If they do that they’ll knockout Fluminense quick – or tap them out!” he proffers.
Besides winning the game, the Brazilian expects nothing but a win from his fight against Mark Hominick at the UFC on the coming 30th. And if all goes to plan, he hopes the next time he’ll step in the octagon thereafter will be at UFC Rio in August, in which case he will expect the players from his beloved team to be there.
“I’m hoping to be on the main card at UFC Rio. I hope to win my fight in Canada and then have four months to recover. And I’d like the players to be there for my fight too – we’d switch places (laughs). It would make me really motivated and proud,” he says in closing.
