Jose Aldo’s ascension to the summit of the WEC featherweight division was a long, hard path.

He has come a long way since moving to Andre Pederneiras’ gym, where extreme poverty had left him struggling to eat much less train.

With help from Pederneiras and his teammates -- including fellow WEC fighter Wagnney Fabiano -- Aldo developed into the best 145 pounder in the world. The champion sat down with Greg Savage at the Black House gym in Southern California to talk about his first title defense and his opponent, former champ Urijah Faber.