With two months away from the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes rematch, "Junior" admitted that the shoving incident during the pre-fight media day was intended to "spice things up." It is also revealed that his manager urged him to talk trash to promote the fight further.
The Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes rematch is originally slated for UFC 176 on August 2nd, but due to Aldo's injury that he sustained during training, the bout was forced to be postponed for UFC 179 on October 25th in the champion's home country.
But during the recent media day in preparation for the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes rematch, a shoving incident between both fighters occurred, which became reminiscent of the similar episode that happened between light heavyweights Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier earlier this month.
But on Wednesday, Jose Aldo revealed that the aforementioned confrontation was intended to "spice things up."
"We were talking to Andre (Pederneiras) in a meeting about how we could improve our fight promotions," Aldo said in a report by Bloody Elbow. "It's part of the show. But I told Andre after (the staredown) that it's not my style."
"It was not staged, we were talking (trash) to each other and it happened," he added. "We (Aldo and Pederneiras) tried to spice things up, but that's it."
Aldo also expressed his regret over the incident and promised that such an occurrence won't happen again.
"I've never pushed anyone during a staredown before," Aldo said. "I should behave better. I'm not saying I regret it. We did it, it was good. There was a good thing about it that people are now talking about it, but it's not who I am. It won't happen again."
In a separate interview, Aldo's coach Dede Pederneiras confirmed that he encourages his fighters to act more aggressively durin pre-fight festivities as a way to promote their respective match-ups.
"I've always learned and passed to all my athletes that you have to respect your opponent, even if you have beat the hell out of him," Pederneiras said. "You always have to be polite and treat him in the best way."
"But this model is not attractive for the business side," he added. "You see people having title shots by talking a lot. I can say that it's wrong? I can't."
