Jose Aldo willing to fight Anthony Pettis, but only in a non-title fight

In the aftermath of UFC 156 and Jose Aldo successfully defending his UFC Featherweight title against Frankie Edgar, the big talk for Aldo has been an upcoming fight with Anthony Pettis. Like Edgar (and Kenny Florian before him), Pettis is a Lightweight looking to drop down to 145 and challenge Aldo. The fight was officially announced for August 3, but over this weekend, that date came into question. At the UFC 157 press conference, Dana White revealed that Aldo doesn't want to take the fight. Now, there's a new twist.

Jose Aldo told Tatame that he is indeed willing to fight Pettis, however he won't put up his Featherweight title. Here's what he had to say, courtesy of FiveOuncesofPain:

"Who deserves a chance in the first place, is Ricardo Lamas, because he has beaten Erik Koch, who was the next contender. He earned the chance after the victory," said Aldo in an interview with TATAME. "Cub Swanson is another too. They are athletes in the division, struggling for a long time for a shot at the belt, which never arrives according to opponents the UFC is scheduling. If the UFC wants a superfight, I do not see any problem. I fight whoever, but the belt has to be against Lamas or Swanson."

Aldo goes on to complain about the ineffectiveness of the UFC ranking system and the way legitimate challengers are being leapfrogged at 145, calling it an "injustice."

This comes not long after Dana White stated that Aldo will indeed fight Pettis or "he's not going to like the way this turns out."

Aldo's refusal to take the fight on Dana's terms brings to mind the UFC 151 fiasco and Jon Jones's unwillingness to fight Chael Sonnen at that time. Here, things are much different due to the timetable, but if Aldo sticks to his guns, it will be another instance of a champion refusing to bend to Dana White's wishes.