Dana White: Jose Aldo To Get Another Shot At The UFC Bantamweight Title

By FIGHTSPORTS May 28, 2020

With Henry Cejudo retiring, the UFC Bantamweight Title is up for grabs. In what could be a fresh start for the promotion, the UFC is looking to move forward with a title fight featuring a legendary fighter at a crossroads in his career.

UFC President Dana White went on SportsCenter to talk about the future of the division. He ended up stating that Jose Aldo will get another shot at fighting for the title against contender Petr Yan.

“I’ll break this right here and right now, and my people are probably going to kill me for this one,” White stated. Cejudo has retired, so we are talking right now about Petr Yan v. Jose Aldo for the vacant title. We don’t have a date or a place set for that, but that’s the fight we’re looking at right now.”

"My people are probably going to kill me for this one…"@danawhite spilled the beans on trying to put together @PetrYanUFC vs. @josealdojunior for the vacant UFC bantamweight title 😏 (via @SportsCenter) pic.twitter.com/AIcd3lLIlD

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 27, 2020

This is another opportunity for Aldo (28-6), who was supposed to fight Cejudo for the title on May 9 but backed out due to visa issues as a result of COVID-19. Dominick Reyes ended up taking his spot and lost to Cejudo via TKO a few weeks ago.

Aldo is currently on a two-fight losing streak, and 2-4 in his last six fights. The former UFC Featherweight Champion is 3-5 since his 18-fight win streak came to an end at the hands of Conor McGregor. He made his bantamweight debut in December, losing to Marlon Moraes via split decision.

Aljamain Sterling, who is set to face Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250, responded to the news with a simple tweet. “Aljo” has been trying to fight for the title for some time now.

Great fight https://t.co/9RmP2bUvC4

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 27, 2020

Yan (14-1) has won nine in a row and is 6-0 in the UFC. Ranked third in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings, Yan last fought in December, beating Urijah Faber via KO at UFC 245.

With both fighters not in the United States, there may be a chance “Fight Island” is where the bout will be.