UFC Featherweight champ Jose Aldo vows to fight at Lightweight

At UFC 169 on February 1, something unprecedented in UFC history will happen -- the card will be headlined by two title fights, but the smaller men will be on top. That can't sit well with UFC Featherweight champ Jose Aldo whose title fight with Ricardo Lamas is ceding the spotlight to Bantamweight champ Renan Barao vs. Urijah Faber.

Aldo talked to Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting about the event and his ambitions to move up to Lightweight:

"People will never forget this idea (of Aldo moving up to LW).

"I was pissed with that in the past, and then I fought Edgar and proved that I could do good fights (at 155)," he said. "We'll see what happens. I still have many goals to accomplish. One day I'll fight at 155."

Aldo won't headline UFC 169 fight card because his teammate Renan Barao, UFC's new bantamweight champion, takes on Urijah Faber in the main event.

"Barao and I are going to fight at the same night, so we'll be stronger when we get inside the cage," Aldo said. "The training is intense here at Nova Uniao. I will be ready when the time comes. It helps me a lot because when you're alone in a card in January or February, a lot of teammates travel to their cities to spend the holidays with their families, so now that we're both fighting on the same card everybody has to stay here to help us."

No mention is made of the fact that Aldo vanquished Faber from the Featherweight class almost four years ago in a WEC title fight, Faber, even without a belt and at Bantamweight is the much bigger draw with American fans. Aldo's frequent injuries have slowed his progress with UFC fans but one has to wonder if he'll ever catch on.

SBN coverage of UFC 169