Jose Aldo is now hoping to fight Dominick Cruz after the UFC wasn’t interested in him fighting Cody Garbrandt.
With TJ Dillashaw fighting Cory Sandhagen and Cody Garbrandt booked against Rob Font, Aldo is on the outside looking in. However, he believes a fight against Cruz makes sense given they are former champions and have big names.
“It’s a big fight to make, Dominick and me, because of our importance [in the sport],” Aldo said to MMAFighting. “We were both WEC champions and then came to the UFC as champions, so it’s a big fight to make.”
Although a Aldo vs. Cruz fight would be one many fans would look forward to, it was not the initial matchup the Brazilian wanted. Instead, he was hoping to fight Cody Garbrandt as he believed a win over the former champ would earn him a title shot. Unfortunately, that will not be the case.
“[Garbrandt] asked for the fight and I agreed right away, but the UFC shot it down,” said Aldo, who was “surprised” by the decision. “[Garbrandt] and I had already agreed, it was all set, and the UFC didn’t think it was a great fight, they wanted him to fight Rob Font.
“We ended the [Vera] fight last year and asked for Dillashaw and Garbrandt and now I have none. I’m on the dance floor without a dancing partner [laughs],” Aldo continued. “But we’ve been asking for Dominick Cruz for a while now and that’s a fight everybody asks for. We’re expecting to fight him. But I don’t know if it will happen, right?”
As of right now, the UFC has not booked Jose Aldo’s next fight but the fight against Dominick Cruz certainly makes sense. Hopefully, it does get booked for sometime in the summer.
Would you like to see Jose Aldo vs. Dominick Cruz?