In his last fight, he defend the belt against Frankie Edgar. Photo: UFC
Champion of the UFC featherweight division and undefeated for 15 fights, Jose Aldo hasn’t given chances to his opponents in the octagon. However, the athlete knows he can’t settle if he wants to defeat Anthony Pettis on the evening of August 3 in Rio de Janeiro and receive the belt from President Dana White for the fifth time.
Attentive to Pettis’ (Showtime) stand up fighting skills, Aldo is refining his striking in Netherlands with friend and K-1 legend Andy Souwer. There, he spent nearly 15 days in a similar routine to the one adopted in 2011, before the fight with Mark Hominick in 2012.
“Andy Souwer is a great friend and a spectacular fighter. He always helped me a lot and I’m very happy to always count on this training in Netherlands. It was very useful the first time and now it was again. I’m sure I’ll show moves that Pettis doesn’t expect to see and I’ll keep this belt for Brazilian fans and my friends,” said the champion.
Among other goals during the trip to Netherlands was to strengthen the psychological aspect and leave his comfort zone which is dangerous among athletes who have reached the top of their careers. Against Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo will face the challenge of an athlete of a heavier category, the lightweight, which he left only to fight for the belt. From now on, the champion will train with his Nova Uniao training partners in Rio de Janeiro.
“Pettis is a big challenge, but I’ll be more than ready to face him. I’ll only be able to defend my belt if I train a lot, if I always seek to improve myself. And these trips are great because apart from training, I can develop the psychological part by being in a different country alone, focused only on training. There are new cultures and training and it only brings good things. I will train in Nova Uniao to fight, because it’s my home and where the best training in the world for light fighters reside,” he says.
Source: Press Agency
