Jose Aldo Announces Interesting Partnership With Rafael dos Anjos

At UFC 254, Rafael dos Anjos will be returning to the division he once ruled. For the fight against Islam Makhachev, dos Anjos will be training with the former UFC featherweight champ, Jose Aldo.

RDA moved up to welterweight in 2017, following back-to-back setbacks against Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson. At the new weight class, the Brazilian couldn’t get the same level of success as he had at lightweight.

He had some good wins over decent competition such as Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny, and Kevin Lee. However, he couldn’t get over the best in the division such as Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Robbie Lawler. His most recent outing ended up in a defeat against Michael Chiesa.

Therefore, he is now looking to leave a lukewarm run at welterweight behind him. However, a return to 155-pounds wouldn’t be easy as he will face Islam Makhachev, who is riding a six-fight win streak. A friend of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev trains with the lightweight champ at American Kickboxing Academy.

It looks like dos Anjos is also looking to get experience before the fight against Makhachev. Therefore, he will now train with Jose Aldo.

Jose Aldo aims to help Rafael dos Anjos

While talking to AGFight, Jose Aldo explained how dos Anjos will soon land at the Nova União academy in Brazil. Following a fight, RDA rang up the recent bantamweight challenger to know about his doctor.

“I can anticipate that he is coming here, he will do his training in Rio de Janeiro, inside the gym together with us,” Aldo said.

Along with sharing the same doctor and same gym, the two former champions will also share the same camp it seems. Aldo is looking to return to the Octagon in November. Hence, training with dos Anjos, who faces Makhachev in October, makes a lot of sense for him.

“I hope to be able to help him win in the lightweight division and, right now, aim at the belt dispute that is his objective. I think he fights with Islam Makhachev, so that’s it for now. You can be sure that, with the amount of lightweights we have, you will meet his needs,” he added.

The lightweight division is stacked throughout and top-heavy as well. For dos Anjos, making a run at the title will be fairly difficult. Nonetheless, the first step in the same could be a statement victory over Makhachev at UFC 254.