André Pederneiras, leader of team Nova União (photo courtesy of Academia Upper)
This Saturday, UFC featherweight champion José Aldo will have 25 minutes to outdo his challenger, Frankie Edgar, in the main event at UFC 156 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Besides facing Edgar, who dropped down from the lightweight division in hopes of disposessing Aldo of his belt, the Brazilian has another challenge at hand–to prove his opponent’s coaches wrong.
According to André Pederneiras, the leader of team Nova União, Frank Edgar’s coaches said that José Aldo won’t have the lungs to fight his American opponent, and that only motivated Aldo even more.
“They said Aldo will wear out, so he focused on physical conditioning more than ever before. I’ve never seen him do ten rounds as well as he is now,” says Dedé in an official UFC promo video for the fight.
As if that’s not enough, Pederneiras feels his student will end the fight before regulation time has run its course, and that he has more weapons to show than his opponent does.
“There’s a great likelihood Aldo will finish before the fifth round. He’s got heavy and quick hands and worked a lot on his elbows. And I don’t even need to get into his kicks,” said the coach, hinting that leg kicks may be one of Aldo’s main weapons.
Check out the following video of José Aldo training on Flamengo Beach and statements by Dedé Pederneiras.
UFC 156
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada
2 de fevereiro de 2013
José Aldo vs Frankie Edgar
Rashad Evans vs Rogério Minotouro
Alistair Overeem vs Antônio Pezão
Jon Fitch vs Demian Maia
Joseph Benavidez vs Ian McCall
Gleison Tibau vs Evan Dunham
Tyron Woodley vs Jay Hieron
Jacob Volkmann vs Bobby Green
Yves Edwards vs Isaac Vallie-Flagg
Chico Camus vs Dustin Kimura
Edwin Figueroa vs Francisco Rivera
