Patricio Pitbull open to fighting Jose Aldo, competing from bantamweight to welterweight in the UFC
04/02/2025 09:00 AM
Patricio Pitbull and Jose Aldo reigned for years as featherweight champions simultaneously in Bellator and UFC, respectively, and Pitbull is open to a fight now that they're finally under the same umbrella.
Pitbull makes his octagon debut against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314, entering the cage after a very successful 24-6 career in Bellator, and could be a win away from a title shot with a win on April 12. Aldo is currently competing at bantamweight, slated to meet Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 315 on May 10.
"I don't have this desire to fight Aldo, nothing like that, but for the context, if an offer comes from the UFC, I would be happy to take it," Pitbull told MMA Fighting. "I think it's a fight that if ends up not happening, it would leave a taste like, 'Damn, they haven't fought each other after so much time as featherweight champions.'"
The former two-division Bellator champion said that beating Aldo today wouldn't automatically make him the greatest featherweight of all time, but would provide an answer to a question that was brought up constantly in the past. Pitbull feels some people are biased towards the UFC when comparing their résumés, but "my place in history is already reserved."
"For Aldo and people in the UFC, everybody is sure he's the best featherweight of all time," Pitbull said, "But some people that know fighting [say], 'There's also Patricio, and maybe he could be fighting for the title of who's the greatest.' Anyway, I think the best way to settle this would be in a fight. We know it wouldn't determine who was the best or who has done more, but in a fight we would at least have an answer, we'd know who catches fire first, and the winner would leave a great mark. I don't have this desire of fighting Aldo, but it would be a good fight to make."
Pitbull won belts at featherweight and lightweight in Bellator, and even beat RIZIN featherweight titleholder Kleber Koike in a non-title match in Japan before trying to make history cutting down to 135 pounds to challenge Sergio Pettis in Bellator. He lost that bout via decision, but doesn't rule out changing weight classes again in the future, this time under the UFC banner.
"Depending on the challenge, we'd do it," Pitbull said. "From 135 to 170, depending on who's the opponent, we're in. Even 170, depending on the fighter's history. If it's someone too young and with no history, [no, but] if he has a history similar to mine, and it's a bit older like me, we'd go for it."
