WEC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo, is set to make his first title defense on Saturday in Sacramento, California. His opponent, Urijah Faber, the unofficial poster boy of the organization, will have the home field advantage as well as the edge in overall experience.

Throw in the fact that his fight will headline the WEC’s pay-per-view debut and Aldo has more than enough reason to start feeling the pressure.

Nevertheless, when it comes to his game plan, Aldo takes the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. The same approach that had him steadily climb the rankings of the featherweight division, culminating in being crowned the champion.

“I don’t think it’s any surprise what I’m going to do. Everybody sees my style of fighting, I come in aggressive, I come in explosive, and I’m going to come in and always look for the knockout.”

Not having lost since 2005, Aldo couldn’t be blamed if he were to enter this fight with an inflated sense of self confidence. But, that wouldn’t be Aldo’s style. He always maintains a level of respect for his opponents and refuses to let past performances dictate his training.

“I’m not going into this fight overconfident. Yes, I’ve watched the fights of Mike Brown against Urijah Faber, but like Urijah said ‘a fight’s a fight’ and anything can happen in there. Every time I go into a fight, I don’t think about anything else than the opponent that’s in front of me. Mike Brown was a great champion, a big champion, and same with Urijah. I think Urijah was a great champion, and I’m going in very focused and not overconfident because I know anything can happen in there and I’m just going in prepared for anything.”

In the past, MMA fans have seen new champions not look as sharp during their first title defenses. Sometimes the pressure gets to them, other times the fighter may unconsciously hold back during training. Aldo insists that this will not be his fate. To him, each fight from here on out brings new challenges and new achievements.

“Basically now every time I have a match, I don’t look at it like I’m defending the belt, I’m going out there like this is a brand new fight, like I’m going to win a brand new belt, and it’s like a whole new dream. It’s to get another belt.”

Despite the potential distraction coming from the added media coverage, Aldo has managed to maintain a simple perspective.

“I’m here to defend my belt. I’m an employee of Zuffa and the WEC, and this is the fight that they put in front of me, so my goal is to go in there and give it my all and give everyone the show that I’m sure everyone wants to see.”

The main card of the WEC: Aldo vs. Faber is available on pay-per-view at 10pm EST. Spike TV will broadcast two undercard fights at 9pm EST.

(source: MMA Weekly)