At the UFC 156 Post Fight Press Conference, UFC President Dana White said that top lightweight contender Anthony Pettis sent him a text that he wanted to face Jose Aldo for the featherweight title and the UFC has granted him the title shot.
The news of the fight was reported by John Morgan of USA Today/MMA Junkie, which included quotes from White.
The fight will take place on August 3rd at a venue to be determined. According to the article from today’s USA Today, the UFC is considering Las Vegas, Chicago. Texas and Rio de Janeiro as possible venues.
Aldo (22-1) won his 15th straight fight this past Saturday night when he successfully defended the UFC featherweight title against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. It was his 4th UFC title defense, with his previous title defenses coming against Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian and Chad Mendes.
Pettis (16-2) is the last WEC lightweight champion and has gone 3-1 in the UFC. After losing his UFC debut to Clay Guida, he has won three straight fights with his last two wins coming by first round knockout. Since coming to the UFC, he has been promised lightweight title fights, but he has not been able to fight for the title because of other circumstances.
In the USA Today report, it did not say whether the August 3rd card would be a pay-per-view event. It’s likely that it will since UFC on FOX 8 is already scheduled to take place on July 27th from an undetermined venue.
Stay tuned to TheMMAReport.com on updates on this upcoming UFC card and where it will take place.