Will meet UFC bosses next week
Aldo will meet with UFC bosses next week to discuss his grievances with the company, and his desires to be released from his contract.
[Dana White] can offer me anything. I started to get unmotivated back then, when I lost the belt. I was the champion for so long I had the right to get an immediate rematch and they didn’t give it to me, and I wanted to walk in a different direction but ‘Dede’ [Aldo’s coach: Pederneiras] made me fight again. I went there, fought and won, and again [the McGregor fight] didn’t come. I have no desire to fight again. I don’t have any excitement to fight anymore. I have other projects in my life. I wanted to retire as champion and I’m the champion today. I want to follow another path. If they release me, that would be great, but if not, what can we do? I have other projects and that depends on this meeting we’re having with them. If I want to retire, no contract can stop me. I can go there and say [I’m retired] and they can’t force me to fight. A lawyer already looked at the contract, but I don’t want to fight. I don’t want anything.
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.
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.
‘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: 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.
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.
Coach: Aldo’s not bluffing
Aldo’s coach says that the fighter’s stance is not a bluff.
In my mind, from the conversations we had, he no longer wants to fight for the UFC. I’m traveling today. Hopefully, I’ll have a meeting with the matchmakers. I believe Dana will be at this event, so we can sit down and figure out the best way to terminate the contract…Yesterday we talked and he said he doesn’t want anything, not even millions of dollar proposals. In his head, he wants out…We’d talked about (this decision), because he’d already said, ‘If they screw me over this time, I’ll stop fighting for the UFC.’ And we believed it wouldn’t happen – also because of Dana’s statements…We thought, ‘If he’s going to fight in the upper division, we’ll keep the belt and fight either (Max) Holloway or (Anthony) Pettis. If he takes the rematch against us, I’ll fight him directly, all good, problem solved.
White will not let Aldo go
White says that he has no intention of letting Aldo go.
We won’t cancel his contract. We know he got very emotional. We respect Jose Aldo very much. We care for the people around him…Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted a fight on the card and we got it for him. I’m sure we can find something nice for Aldo as well.
Also wants to retire from MMA
After White tells Combate TV that he will try to fix Aldo’s resignation from UFC, Aldo calls the station to say he wants the UFC President to leave him alone, and that he not only wishes to be released from the UFC, he wants to retire from MMA permanently.
Not even fight MMA, too. It has reached a limit now. I talked to ‘Dede’ a long time ago and he convinced me to continue. I went to the Frankie Edgar fight and won. I fought to win for ‘Dede’. I’m not angry or upset now, nothing. I never fought for money, I had a good career and legacy as featherweight champion. If [Dana] likes me and my family, I just hope he releases me. I don’t want a fight. I want to leave as I came in. The UFC and WEC didn’t give me anything. Everything I conquered was my merit and from my team. Nobody gave me anything. I conquered everything. And I gave them a lot more than they gave me back. I just want them to release me from my contract. I’m not a whore to sell myself [for money]. I don’t even want to fight MMA. I want to follow a career in another sport. That’s what I want.
Requests to quit UFC
Aldo requests to quit the UFC.
I heard about everything that happened through my coach. He had spoken with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby Saturday and Sean still had no answer about anything, and asked if I could fight on November 12. My coach said that if it would be Conor, yes, and then Sean asked him if I would fight Max Holloway or Anthony Pettis. ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] said that for those who I’d rather do a full camp and it could be on December 10.
We waited until Dana publicly said that he wanted this fight with McGregor to happen. And then we expected it to happen: I’d get my rematch to unify the featherweight belts, or I’d have my belt back and fight Holloway or Pettis, since Dana [White] said all the time that Conor couldn’t keep both belts.
But, to my surprise, I heard last night about the fight between McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, which was also denied by Dana last week. And to make it worse, he would keep the featherweight belt, and possibly having two belts at the same time.
After all this, I see I can’t trust any word from president Dana White, and who’s in charge of the promotion now is Conor McGregor. Since I’m not here to be an employee of McGregor, today I ask to cancel my contract with the UFC. After being fooled so many times, I don’t feel motivated to fight in the UFC anymore.
White wants McGregor-Aldo, Nurmagomedov-Alvarez
White says he plans to have Alvarez defend his belt against Nurmagomedov, and McGregor to defend his belt against Aldo. Nurmagomedov says he has signed two contracts to fight Alvarez: one for UFC 205 in New York in November and another to fight him at UFC 206 in Toronto in December. However, Alvarez wants to fight McGregor, and McGregor appears to want to fight Alvarez. Reports of a McGregor injury affecting the fight are dismissed by White:
Conor’s foot is hurt, but he thinks he can fight. I want him to fight Aldo.
Nurmagomedov:
Alvarez wants to fight McGregor, because it’s an easy fight and it’s a lot of money to fight him. But he has to fight me. Dana White has told me, ‘He is fighting you. He has to fight you.’ His record is only 2-1 in the UFC and he loses like a chicken to Cowboy [Cerrone]. How did he even get a title shot? I don’t know why he is so scared to fight me…I would have to be careful in the first [round] because he does punch hard. In the second, I would start to catch him and in the third, I’d finish him. Mentally, he’s already lost to me…All I want is 25 minutes in the cage with Alvarez…Put me in a cage somewhere with him and lock the door. Then I can show the world who the best really is.
Prays every night for McGregor rematch
Aldo says he prays every night for a chance at a McGregor rematch, but will settle for a fight with Pettis.
Every night I ask god ‘Please give me another chance. Let me get into the octagon against him. I know it will be different this time’…[However] If [a fight with McGregor] doesn’t end up happening, I do rather a fight against [Anthony] Pettis. I think nowadays…I learned a few things with [the UFC]. There’s more than just the ranking, like there is a ranking order for title-shots. No. I have to tend to the business side too. I think a fight against Pettis will sell a lot more than one against Holloway.
The pair were supposed to meet for Aldo’s featherweight crown at UFC 163 in August of 2013, but Pettis withdrew with a knee injury.
Aldo: McGregor ‘a normal, quiet guy’
Aldo says that, during the promo tour for UFC 189, he got to see a different side of McGregor, contradicting his many complaints about McGregor’s conduct in the past.
[The relationship] is friendly, quiet. For me, I see no problem with him doing his marketing, and seeing the financial side, it was very good. If I had more fights with him in the featherweight division, it would be very profitable, but I am not his friend, he can go one way and I go to the other. I’ve seen him stand facing the wall, staring at nothing and everyone trying to provoke him, and he has a glazed look. He’s a normal, quiet guy, but if you see a camera or an Irish person close, he turns. Outside you see him laughing, joking, talking usual — but then he turns in such a way that you think: ‘son of a bitch’…Sometimes you play jokes and he is laughing. There was one day we sat and he said to get coffee, and I said I wanted sugar, and he answered like: ‘good’. I met him recently at a hotel, he was eating breakfast and I said I wanted barbecue, he said it was his breakfast, of course. But most of the time we met, there was always someone [with a camera] shooting, so he had to keep it up. But with no camera, the face changes completely.
White: No trilogy fight
White says he does not want McGregor to fight again Diaz again in a “trilogy” fight. Instead he wants McGregor to defend his title against interim champ Aldo. He says McGregor has two options — either fight Aldo or surrender his title to him — or cut weight to 155 and fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title.
The war was fun and super successful but I’m movin’ on.
Aldo: ‘Come back down or drop the belt’
Aldo says McGregor should defend his title at 145 pounds, or drop the belt.
Where you at @TheNotoriousMMA? Come back down and I'll see you at UFC205 or drop the belt! #hitandrun
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) August 21, 2016
McGregor:
How long was I going back and forth with José? That must have been a two-year build-up. He pulled out, last-minute. I continued to fight someone else, then we rescheduled a two-year, ‘round the world deal with that boy. And then he stepped in and I beat him in 13 seconds. It’s hard for me to get excited about that, especially after his last performance. It was a decision. He didn’t go out and get it like I wanted him to get it. So, I don’t know.
Aldo reveals McGregor taunt
Aldo reveals what he told McGregor after he beat Frankie Edgar in UFC 200.
It was spontaneous. I knew he was there. When I was fighting, I saw him between rounds, I saw him there. So, when the fight was over, I only said ‘You’re next.’
Aldo trainer questions McGregor doping
Aldo’s trainer, Pederneiras, says his offer to pay for tests to be performed three times a week on Aldo and McGregor was rejected.
Conor went two months and two days without being tested before the fight with Aldo, and I was asking, asking, and asking but nothing was done. [Both fighters were tested four times, but only in the last two to three weeks, when McGregor was already in Los Angeles for the fight, while] Aldo was tested in the right way. I’m telling and challenging his trainer – test Conor seriously, I want to see if he makes weight. I can’t accuse anyone without having certainty. It would be frivolous to accuse someone without being certain. But, at the very least, it’s strange.
Aldo: McGregor MSG rematch ‘highly likely’
Aldo says that a win by McGregor in Las Vegas would prevent them from fighting each other at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, but that expects Diaz to win.
If he loses (to Diaz), it’s highly likely that they put us to fight on November 12, at Madison Square Garden. The Irish community is big over there. But if he wins, I think they will do a third fight between them and ruin all my plans…If I had to bet, it would be Nate [who wins] again. From what I saw he’s way bigger, stronger, and he’s training. He got that fight on short notice and still was able to win. Well trained, it’s really hard for McGregor. If you look at (Diaz’s) fights, even when he’s getting beat, he finds a way to come back. If I had to bet, it would be Nate…I’m rooting for [McGregor] to lose, of course. If he wins, they will do another rematch with Nate, and that’s bad. He has to lose. He has to lose. He will lose.
Kavanagh: McGregor will beat Aldo again
Despite his admiration for Aldo’s performance, Kavanagh says he does not expect a different outcome when Aldo meets McGregor, most likely in November. He also expresses his regret at the fact that Edgar was unable to get the job done against Aldo.
Probably I had a little personal vision or dream of it being Edgar going in and doing amazing against Aldo…It would have been just amazing. As storylines go, that would have been really, really exciting. Really, really interesting. But I guess Aldo showed he had ‘The Answer’ again, and I think Aldo — I said this in the lead-up to Conor’s fight — is one of the best in the world at beating short wrestlers…There are certain things he’s doing that are really, really brilliant, but then on the other side I look at it and go, ‘It’s pretty much the same guy that [Conor] beat the last time’. It’s not the most unpredictable style — Muay Thai, defensive wrestling. It just looked a very similar guy…I think [Aldo] has improved a lot at beating that sort of guy again, but Conor’s not a short wrestler. I’m sure Aldo will have a more tempered approach the next time. I think the first time he did certain things that I don’t think he will do the second time. It will be very hard to beat 13 seconds the second time but he will definitely want to show his dominance and that it wasn’t a lucky punch.
Cruz wants fight against Aldo or McGregor
Cruz says his fans want him to fight Aldo or McGregor.
Aldo looked better than I’ve ever seen him look, in any of his fights, this last time against Edgar. That is a challenge and that’s what I’m here for…The people that I want to fight are because fans are interested in it. I know they are. I know they’re interested in me maybe fighting Aldo. Me maybe fighting for the pound-for-pound No. 1 spot against a guy I already beat for five rounds in Demetrious Johnson. He’s hurt, who knows if that can happen or not. I’m just saying. That’s a money fight people would want to see. I know that if Conor McGregor comes out healthy and Aldo gets hurt before they’re supposed to meet up, the fans would want to see me fight Conor McGregor. I know fans would want to see that fight.