From 2006 to 2014, Jose Aldo put together an 18-fight win streak, becoming the inaugural UFC featherweight champion, and defending the title seven times. He lost the belt to Conor McGregor, who moved up a division, and won it back vs. Frankie Edgar. Then he lost it to Max Holloway, and lost the immediate rematch. Aldo bounced back with back to back, performance bonus winning victories. And now he finds himself heading into a fight vs. Marlon Vera in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 42 on a three-fight losing streak.

At Thursday’s media day, Aldo was entirely undaunted.

I feel now like it’s the restart of my career, said Aldo. I feel like it’s the first fight of my career. … I’m not feeling any pressure because I always fight with great fighters. I just keep training hard and get ready for my next opponent. I’m not feeling any pressure.

What keeps me motivated is the victory. I’m training hard because I want to be a champion at my new division. That’s my motivation every day.

I will always keep my career step by step. Right now I just think about Marlon Vera, but after Marlon Vera I can think about the future.

The future is coming. Although Aldo has fought 35 times in the last 16 years, against the best lighter fighters on Earth, he is only 34. But he’s older than that in MMA years, without a long career ahead. This fight is huge for him. With a win over the #15 fighter in the division, coming off a competitive title challenge, with a Split Decision loss a year ago to the current #3 ranked fighter, Aldo is near the top of the division. But with a loss, he’s on a four-fight win streak, in a league that is cutting approximately 60 fighters, or a little under 10% of the roster, to make room for new talent up.

Call it UG, who win the co–main on Saturday night?

h/t Mike Bohn for MMA Junkie