Dominick Cruz can’t make sense of Jose Aldo preferring to fight Jonathan Martinez over him at UFC 301.
Aldo said the UFC’s original plan was to have him return against Cruz, but Cruz couldn’t fight due to issues with his camp. He later said during media day that he asked for a top five opponent, and that unlike Cruz, Martinez is on a winning streak.
Aldo (32-8 MMA, 14-7 UFC) turned back the clock with an impressive showing against Martinez when he won by unanimous decision however, Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is confused by “The King of Rio’s” motives.
“Since you brought up Aldo, I’ll start with I saw his words were that they offered him to fight me but he wanted somebody in the top five, or, ‘He’s not in the top five,'” Cruz said on the “Anik & Florian Podcast.” “Is Jonathan Martinez in the top five? OK, so there’s that. And then, why would you want to be in the top five unless you’re going to fight for the title? Is he planning on renegotiating his contract for another six fights and going for the title?
“Or do you want to make sure you secure a win to become a free agent off a win instead of a loss when you’ve got to face the likes of me, which is a nightmare? I’m not saying Jonathan Martinez isn’t a nightmare, but the way that I saw it is, he showed up on the first weigh-in and then he showed up the second weigh-in apologizing for showing up to the first weigh-in and that right there showed me that the man was learning who he was against Jose Aldo before he even got in there.”
Aldo’s UFC future remains unclear, but the former featherweight champion said he plans on sitting down with UFC brass to discuss what’s next. Cruz doubts Aldo re-signs.
“He’s not going to renegotiate,” Cruz said. “Why would he sign for another six fights in the UFC? He’s not going to do that. He’s going to go be a free agent.”
