Jose Aldo now refuses to fight Anthony Pettis...

Ariel Helwani ‏@arielhelwani

Dana just said Aldo told him he is refusing up flight Pettis because he doesn't think he deserves it.

Ariel Helwani ‏@arielhelwani

Dana said Aldo will fight Pettis or he's not going to like the way this turns out. He's absolutely refusing right now.

But Edgar did ... right? 

Because GSP would have had no choice but to drop it. He's not the type to go rounds with Dana. Plus you're going to lose that battle anyway. Dana said it was the first time ever that GSP asked for a specific fight and I don't really see a problem with that.

The one thing that GSP/Aldo have in common is they are both dominant champions. Everything else doesn't apply at this point. Aldo is nowhere near having the resume' GSP has. If Aldo doesn't want to fight Pettis I'm ok with that. I don't think he's scared of Pettis or anyone else. Pettis shouldn't just get to drop down and fight the champion right away. He's never even won a fw fight. Lamas is much more deserving to fight Aldo.

People who ***** about Frankie getting a title shot right away need to remember that he didn't ask for one there was an injury and he got asked by Dana to step in. What was he supposed to say no?

@mikeyg You don't care who said it? Cool, then don't talk about it. Jeez....What's with all the haters on Tapology. We need more people like yorma.

To stick with the thread topic I don't really understand how Aldo point fought Edgar. First off, Edgar's style is stupidly difficult because he only wants to engage 3-4 times a round. Secondly, I think it's time for Aldo to move up, because he was clearly trying to avoid gassing himself out chasing Edgar around the whole fight. He never used to have these problems with his cardio, but they seem to be more and more prevalent as the years go on. 

As for the Pettis fight, it makes no difference to me if it happens. I would rather see Aldo fight Lamas and Pettis/Henderson II (a far more interesting fight in my opinion), then, regardless of winning or losing, Aldo move up to 155. If he won against Lamas, he should fight in a #1 Condtender's bout; if he lost, fight a top guy to put him 1 more win away from a title shot.

This is a weird situation for me.  As much as I like this fight, I do believe Pettis doesn't deserve it.  I don't care that Edgar got a title shot, because he was even less deserving in my opinion.  Was coming off back-to-back losses.  Just because he was given one though, doesn't excuse skipping over Lamas to give Pettis one.

I don't think Aldo is at all scared of Pettis and do believe that he believes that Pettis is undeserving.  However with that said, I don't think Aldo's really earned the right to refuse fights.  He's incredible, but his WEC run looked a lot more impressive than his current 4-0 UFC run.  Outside of his Mendes fight, I haven't been all that impressed.

I guess what I'm saying is there's pros to both the Pettis and Lamas fights.  I don't think I really care who it is.

Pettis gets a title shot with a phone call in a category that he never fought before and people think Aldo is wrong lol what a joke.

Fighters don't get to pick who they fight, and they shouldn't. Randy Couture came outs of retirement and off losing 2 out of 3. He moved up a weight class and fought a fairly dominant champion. That fight made him a legend and hall of famer. Imagine if Sylvia starting *****ing about him not deserving a shot. We'd all have lost something. Fights like these are what builds the sport. Aldo has cleaned out 145 and we need someone to provide doubt that he will win. Enter Pettis. Now man up and ******* fight.

MikeLovesTacos XD

"But Edgar did ... right? "

at least edgar was a UFC champion. Pettis lost to Clay Gudia 2 bouts ago.

* Edited at 02.24.2013, 10:25 PM ET *

"Aldo has cleaned out 145 and we need someone to provide doubt that he will win. Enter Pettis. Now man up and ******* fight"
KZ,Lamas,Kosh,Swason = should make Aldo busy for year and a half
needs to man up? funny cuz he is, somebody needs to step up and make ufc stop with those random title fights.
Pettis wants to fight Aldo? great prove by winning a fw contender than we will talk about it!

@Stealingfire. Not every fight can be a highlight reel KO. Every single fighter has had a bad fight, including the greats. If Aldo's fight against Edgar was his "bad fight", and he still won, I'd be even more impressed.

Kinda lame of Aldo, but whatever.  I'll be just as excited about Pettis vs the winner of Bendo and Melendez. 

Where did this mikeyg character come from? Jeez. Yorma, please come into this thread and spread the peace and love.

I don´t know if Aldo is ducking Pettis or not. IMO he is not. I don´t know the exact reasons as to why he "doesn´t" want to fight him I don´t know if he just playing hard to get so he gets a bigger paycheck, or if he is infact ducking him or he really thinks Pettis doesn´t deserve tha title shot, I really don´t know and I think that at this point non of us knows the real reason behind this.

What I do know is that Dana gives title shots at his own convinience and whim. we (fans) have disscused several times wether a chamion can choose his opponents or if he has to fight whoever the boss says, I think it has to be a conbination of both, I think that in a few exceptions the champion has a right to choose his opponent  ( if he has defended the belt in several ocassions and the opponent he chooses is deserving of a title shot) and in most cases the boss will provide the opponent for the fight and the champion has to accept, but is not as simple as that, I think the boss has to respect the champion title of his/her own promotion (remember when Tim Sylvia was the HW champion?) and he has to select only the best possible contender at the moment and not just who he wishes, is friends with or he thinks would make an exciting match, the real value of the champion title (not the champion itself) is how tough the competition is to get the title and if anyone is granted an opportunity (even if he does not deserves it at the time) the value of that championship title losses some of it´s worth you (the boss) cheapens the belt, any fighter can have a shot at the title but first they have to prove worthy of fighting the champion because in a combat sport like MMA (or boxing) anything can happen and not always the best fighter wins the fight (like Timothy Bradley or Silvya).

Dana has been cheapening the UFC belts just to have his way, and he is disrespecting fighters in the process, if he keeps up like this with time the UFC  belts won´t mean much and I guarantee more than a few fighters will rather change organizations even if they earn much less.

Frankly i agree with Aldo and his Manager, I really don't believe that someone should be able to earn a title shot in one weight class and then cash it in somewhere else, i really think that Lamas deserves the shot right now and Pettis should take a fight with KZ or another top contender before he gets the shot.

I agree with Aldo that Pettis doesn't deserve the shot but if he truly felt that way then he should of spoke up for the Edgar fight too because I think Edgar was even less deserving coming off 2 losses. So it kind of makes me wonder if there is another reason he doesn't want the fight. Aldo is a beast and one of my favorite fighters so it just seems like a weird decision to me, but the guy is a beast so I can't imagine he is scared of Pettis in any way.

* Edited at 02.25.2013, 2:55 PM ET *

Aldo doesnt want to be outsized by a dude who knows how to strike. Aldo is pulling the GSP Card. GSP always seems so confident until you mention two words. Anderson Silva. His reaction is always like "Well, we see what the boss say and we take it from there." I'd imagine thats how Aldo is feeling right now.

Only when GSP is asked about Silva it's always "will you move up to 185 pounds" a weight class that doesn't suit him very well. The fight between Aldo/Pettis is at Aldo's weight class so he couldn't play that card as you put it.

Also you do realize when Silva is asked about Jones he's very quick to say no. Wonder why.

Silva is quick to say "No" because the UFC doesnt wanna ruin any legitimacy that any weight class above or below him may have. What if he beats Jones at Light Heavyweight? Even if it was an Exhibition Bout, UFC doesnt wanna risk having a Champion walk around the belt when he really isnt the Champ in the eyes of the casual fan. Christian M'Pumbu is a perfect example of someone who is a Champion but not at the same time.

* Edited at 02.25.2013, 5:16 PM ET *

If Jones/Silva happened at 205 it would be for the belt. If it happened at a catchweight then it wouldn't effect the legitimacy of anyone's belt. The UFC would love for Jones/Silva to happen. Dana would never stop that fight from happening. Silva doesn't want to fight a guy who's bigger then him and quite possibily more talented. It's understandable. Just like it's understandable that GSP who's a welterweight is hesitant to fight a lightheavyweight size fighter at middleweight.

None of the big 3 Jones,GSP or Silva are scared of anyone. They are trying to be smart when it comes to their respective careers. You don't get to the level they're at by avoiding or being scared of anyone.

The UFC will never have a champion take other fights that aint title fights. I think Silva is the the only one that can due to the fact that he has the balls to take a fight in a higher weight class in between title fights. Since he has been the champion, he has taken 3 fights at 205 just because he wanted to. I dont see GSP, Bendo, Cruz, or Might Mouse taking a fight at a higher weight class just for the LULZ. Aldo, and Bones have both said they plan on moving to a higher weight class, but not sure if its gonna be a permanent move on Bones' part. Im sure Aldo can switch down, and up as long as he keeps his weight in check.