Explains reasons for leaving UFC
In an interview with Yahoo, Aldo says he has several reasons for wanting to leave UFC, including the lack of a quick rematch with McGregor and not being paid bonuses.
Conor is not my issue. My issue is that I feel Dana is not in control any more. It’s a runaway train. Things have been promised and not delivered and he’s no longer in charge, no longer the boss…My dissatisfaction has been brewing for a long time. Before my loss to McGregor when I had to pull out of our first fight [scheduled for UFC 189 in July], I was not happy with the way the UFC spun my rib injury. I was not happy to see them mischaracterise my injury and not support me as I had to pull out of that fight….When I lost to Conor McGregor, I had been undefeated for nearly 10 years. I think if anybody deserved an immediate rematch, it was me against Conor in those circumstances. It was a quick fight. I got caught and the fans in the arena didn’t really get to see a full fight. I think that for everything I’d already achieved for the sport and my record, it was a rematch I deserved immediately and without a doubt.
I hear a lot of people say the reason I don’t call the shots and that I’m not happy with my income is that I don’t sell fights. People have said that to me and they’ve said it about me. I’ve heard people say, Jose needs to be a better marketer; he needs to sell his fights more. But that’s not the philosophy I was raised with…Where the sport is going is not respectful. The people who are selling fights are people who are giving each other the middle finger, throwing objects at press conferences, getting caught snorting cocaine and making headlines for all kinds of wrong reasons. What I was taught and what I believe in is, I do my best inside the cage. I believe people want to watch me for my ability as an athlete…If the direction the sport is going is you’ve got to make headlines for the wrong reasons in order to be worthy of respect and in order to be worthy of the right income, it’s not something I’ll ever be on board with.
He also says he is considering a career in professional soccer.
Aldo: GSP wanted $10 million to fight McGregor
Aldo claims St-Pierre wanted a $10 million payout to fight McGregor. St-Pierre hasn’t fought since 2013, when he scraped by Johny Hendricks in the last defence of his welterweight title before he vacated his belt and stepped away from the fight game. Aldo:
I think that my life and the whole featherweight division needs to keep going, not being stalled while he (McGregor) does three fights in the lightweight division… Another one that he wanted to do, make a super fight with Georges St-Pierre, which didn’t work out because Georges wanted $10 million and Dana didn’t want to pay it. So he still put him with Nate for the second time. So for me, Dana’s word is worthless.
Lifts Sam Maguire Cup
McGregor lends his support to the Dublin Team, lifting the Sam Maguire Cup ahead of the All-Ireland Final replay.
Cerrone: McGregor ‘sucks’
Cerrone comments on McGregor-Alvarez:
That’s not a good fight because Conor sucks. Eddie is smart. He won’t get caught up in all of the dramatics of it. He’ll just go in there and take him down, f-cking wrestle him and f-cking submit him! Easy work…Conor is good at getting you emotionally involved. So, I think you just go out there, take him down, and f-cking end him quick.
Rumour: McGregor to retire after 205
According to the MMA news website, Smack His Face, McGregor is set to announce his retirement from MMA. Reportedly worn down by the travel and media commitments, McGregor’s family life is apparently suffering and he wants to take an indefinite time out from the sport to reconnect with those close to him.
McGregor-Alvarez ‘You’re Next’ promo video
Fight Promo releases a promo video for McGregor vs Alvarez at Madison Square Garden.
Roddy: McGregor’s leg is 100%, predicts UFC 205 KO victory
Striking coach Owens says McGregor’s leg is fine:
He (Conor) was back in the gym moving about two days afterwards in Vegas. You saw the amount of kicks he threw in the Diaz fight and he obviously just caught a few of them on the knee and he just really badly bruised his shin. There was no serious issue with the foot. I think they found a small fracture from a while back but it was nothing. The shin itself was really bashed up from after the fight, but within a couple of days he was back training and moving around. There’s no issues there and he’s 100% – he was a couple of days after.
And that McGregor will win easily against Alvarez:
No disrespect to Alvarez – he’s a great fighter, but he moves very similar to a lot of the guys that Conor has fought. Even when Conor has fought strikers, they’ve all become that type of fighter – when Conor lands they become a panicked wrestler. That’s what’s going to happen. Conor lands clean and when it comes to a few exchanges Alvarez is going to feel the difference in accuracy and power and he’s going to try and wrestle…Alvarez is a great wrestler so there will be stuff we will be working on with Conor to make sure Alvarez can’t keep ahold of him and can’t keep him against the fence. Conor is going to land and it’s going to be a matter of time before Alvarez goes to sleep to be totally honest.
‘Everyone knows McGregor is scared to fight me’
Aldo says he does not want to fight on another promotion.
It’s hard for me. If there’s something good [the UFC can do] is release me. I don’t want to fight for other promotion. I’m at the level above. There’s no reason why leave the first division to fight at the second division when I’m well appreciated in the first division, it would mean taking a step back. I don’t want to fight for another promotion.
And comments on McGregor:
Everybody knows he’s scared to fight [me]. He knows how dangerous I am for him for the fact that my last fight, everybody said that I had a safe performance and if I fight this way I don’t lose to anyone. I’ve seen him in press conferences saying that he would fight with Frankie Edgar but not against me. I think he’s scared.
Aldo: McGregor fight could not stop retirement
When asked if a fight with McGregor would stop his retirement from UFC, Aldo says:
No. Not even that. “If anything, that should have been what happened. This fight is the fight that should have been made as the next fight at 145[lbs]. I earned this. I earned this since I first arrived at UFC. Because I’ve seen other champions losing and getting immediate rematches. But, in my case, they made me fight for the interim belt instead. I did it, and I won. And even now, I don’t have any perspective for my future. So for me, not even a fight against McGregor. I don’t care if he is fighting someone else. I couldn’t care less how he manages his career. I want to follow my own path. So the only way for them to make things right with me, is by releasing me.
‘Not threatened’ by McGregor
Alvarez says that he is not threatened by McGregor.
Usually when I square off with a man, my heart rate goes up, I feel something. I never felt so unthreatened by a human being as when I was up on a stage with him. That’s the God’s honest truth. I’ve never felt so unthreatened. [Other fighters] have a well-rounded skill set and even if the fight goes to another realm of MMA, from standing up, to ground, to jiu-jitsu, everyone is tough in each one. They’re well versed, to the point where they can hang with some of the toughest guys in the world in any aspect of the sport. And I don’t think [McGregor] can, from what I’ve seen…The conditioning aspect is just not a good level of conditioning. The last Nate Diaz fight was a very big eye opener for me.
Payday is ‘millions’
After McGregor claims that Alvarez he didn’t negotiate a big payday, Alvarez says that he is being paid ‘millions’ for the fight.
I’m happy with the money I’m ready to make. I think you have to be able to earn the right to draw a line in the sand and be able to say ‘this is what I want,’ and I think fighters need to be prepared to walk if that’s the case. … It wasn’t one I was willing to walk away from at this time. I wasn’t going to sit there and nickel and dime the UFC about negotiating the deal. The deal was good. [A ballpark figure is] millions.
Alvarez: McGregor has ‘WWE fans’ who ‘don’t know shit about MMA’
Alvarez says he was taken aback when the crowd at the UFC 205 press conference greeted him with jeers.
I mean, given the reaction of that crowd, it kind of was weird, I definitely didn’t expect that. It just sort of reiterated to me what his fan base is. His fan base is him. They’re people who, it’s all perception. It seems like he has a lot of WWE fans, guys who don’t know much about fighting at all, they are just like him. You can have them fans, they’re not the fans I want anyway. You can boo all day long. I don’t want fans who don’t know shit about MMA. I’d rather have a fan who knows the sport, enjoys the sport, and can see value.
Cerrone: McGregor ‘disliked by all other fighters’
Cerrone says he is no fan of McGregor.
It’s all an act, a big show [from McGregor]. We couldn’t hear what he was saying [at the press conference], he was just rambling and we were behind the speaker. I just tune him out, because behind the scenes he is like a scared little kid. He hides from us. When they line us all up they take Conor and put him in another room because he can’t be around other fighters because we don’t play that shit. [He is disliked] by all. By all. He’s not one of the fellas, he’s not a good dude. But it is what it is, he’s done a good job promoting the sport. He’s done a good job at making money, so I can’t hate the guy for that. But just as a person, I ain’t a fan of his.
Defends McGregor going after two belts
Pettis says McGregor should be able to go after two belts, considering he was trying the same.
I wanted to do it so I can’t say he shouldn’t be able to do it…I was trying to do that when I was champ. I called out Jose Aldo right after I won the belt at lightweight, it was supposed to happen, it didn’t happen for reasons. I think right now, Conor he’s doing his thing. He’s a guy that’s winning fights, he’s knocking guys out, he’s fighting guys like Nate Diaz but he’s winning fights, what can you say…When I won the belt, the first thing I said was ‘Jose Aldo we have unfinished business.’ That was my plan way back when I was the champ. He’s selling the tickets, he’s selling the fights, he’s winning the fights and people want to watch him fight.
He is hoping for a fight with Aldo:
If Jose Aldo wants it, I’m ready to go. I think he’s more frustrated than actually trying to retire. I don’t think he’s going to retire where he’s at right now. He obviously wants that (Conor) fight back, Conor’s busy, I’m there. I think that’s the fight that makes sense for him. If Jose Aldo’s retired, give me Max Holloway. If Max Holloway don’t want to fight, give me Nate Diaz. I don’t care. I’m here to fight.
Says McGregor all about money
After his UFC 2014 win, Mousasi talks about McGregor.
McGregor’s good for the sport but what is it. You had Muhammad Ali, he was a hero, he was besides a great boxer, he did a lot, he did big things. Now you have (Floyd) Mayweather and Conor McGregor — ‘I have money, I have money’ — and everybody loves it. That sells. People are stupid. What can I say? They don’t know who’s a real fighter or not. They just like to see expensive stuff on Instagram probably.
UFC 205 official trailer: Live Like Legends
McGregor and Alvarez appear in the UFC 205 official trailer, titled, Live Like Legends.
Cruz: McGregor not most hated in UFC
Cruz refutes Cerrone’s statement that McGregor is the most hated man amongst the UFC fighters.
I don’t base things on opinion – I base them on fact. And I don’t have a factual basis that everyone in the UFC hates the guy. I think what they’re upset at is the fact of how much money he’s made, how quickly and on his own, and also how the UFC favours him. But that doesn’t make me hate him. That makes me try to understand the situation and make a better situation for myself. I choose not to dislike or hate the people that are making that money because they’re doing something different – it’s a choice.
‘I’ll beat McGregor’
After adding to his undefeated run, with a submission over Russell Doane in UFC 204, Bektic says he’s ready to take on McGregor.
Post-fight I went over to Dana White and told him, ‘Give me some chicken. It’s my mom’s 50th birthday, and I just told him. Back in July last year, when [Chad] Mendes fought McGregor, before that fight I went up to Dana and shook hands with him and told him, ‘Hey Dana, I’m the one. I’m going to be your champ.’ He didn’t remember, but I reminded him of that today..I’m building a big foundation. Skyscrapers take time, so I’m going with the flow…I think [Alvarez vs. McGregor] is a great fight. I like McGregor. He’s doing his thing right now, and Alvarez, he’s a gangster. He’s a former Bellator champ, and he’s a UFC champ now…[I’ll fight McGregor] if he’s there. I’m not sure what his plans are. He won the featherweight belt, and it’s been a long time, and he hasn’t defended it. I don’t even know how long it’s been since he fought at featherweight. I would beat him now. I’d beat anybody.
Mayweather: White not a fighter, underpays fighters
After White says that he never thought that there would be a McGregor-Mayweather fight:
They seem to want the money, probably! But I don’t know how bad they actually want to make that a reality…I never thought it was gonna happen. Two totally different sports… Conor’s under contract with me. We can start with kicks, punches and elbows…[Mayweather] doesn’t have to learn to do anything, but he’s going to get kicked and elbowed.
Mayweather responds:
It’s easy for another guy to speak when he’s not in there, in a contact sport. It’s easy to get a tonne of money off these UFC guys while they’re not really getting paid and he’s living better than them. There’s a difference. They can say, ‘ah Floyd, he’s living better than all his fighters.’ Well, guess what, I was a fighter myself so I’ve put in the work on both sides.’
Fined $150,000 for water bottle fight
The Nevada State Athletic Commission fines McGregor five-percent of his $3 million purse ($150,000) for the water bottle fight with Diaz inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in August. At least one security guard from the hotel was hit with a bottle or can that was thrown by McGregor. He was also fined 50 hours of community service, to be served within six months. McGregor was on the phone from Ireland:
I just want to apologize for the incident, it was a very unusual incident that unfolded. I acted wrong and all I can say is I’m sorry.
Diaz’s hearing will be heard at a later date.